Wherever You Will Go
by theonlyxception
Summary: Agent Megan Reeves is finding life a little more complicated than usual—especially when their latest case involves an innocent child. Sequel to "I'm Still Here"
1. Unfamiliar Tune

Ready...set...go! Here's the sequel to I'm Still Here. And if you haven't read that one first you probably won't understand what's happening here. For those who have been following with me from the start--read on and enjoy.

* * *

By the pending afternoon, the sun had already set high in the blue sky. The radio was blaring softly to an unfamiliar tune. Her green eyes shifted towards the car in front of her, not exactly focusing on anything in particular. And by the clock in her car she still had twenty minutes before promptly showing to her appointment.

The earlier ordeal was still surfacing, waving through her thoughts--almost as she were at a stand stil. Like the cars, they made small movements and weaves to go in the direction they needed to go, eventually ending up at their destination. Their exteriors being hit by rays of sun or rain as they moved gracefully through the streets and highways, just like person manuvering the car made choices in their own lives, being surrounded by happiness and trials.

Realizing that she had just compared cars to life, Megan peered into her back mirror finding the trailing amount of cars in back of her waiting in traffic. The corners of her lips quivered up into the saddest smile that she could manage as she had just followed Charlie's comparison methods in her own thoughts.With the cars moving slowly in front of her, she edged towards her destination with determination and as if this moment right here and now would beat the final strike.

Upon change to her life there would be no Charlie equations--no understanding except to her own equation. No coffee breaks, except in her own home. And no enigma for chasing subjects, using a badge, gun, all while wearing a dress shirt and pants. There would be no staying late, looking af files for a case while pulling an overnighter at the office. And no excuses not to go home at night because you know nobody but you will be there.

Her stomach dropped a level even though she knew she would have Larry now, but work would always be a part of her. And although there had been many instances where people, whether co-workers or students at the YMCA, Megan had heard often how they have divulged their thoughts on wishing she would teach there more than just a couple days a week.

Turning the wheel to the corner just up the street--the large building came into view. The stature of the building overlooked the downtown area of Los Angeles, standing out with it's white exterior against the blue sky. It had to have been awhile since she had been here, but then again--not much had changed.

Bypassing traffic was a relief as she made her way down the street and pulled into the hospital parking lot. Finding a spot relatively close to the hospital Megan parked, shut off the engine and leaned her head against the back of the seat, her keys still dangling partially from the ignition.

Gazing out the windshield at the rustling breeze outside, her hand caught against the key as she eased it back into the ignition and leaned back against the seat. She wondered what part of this made her so uncomfortable--what would be found or the results that might change her life in any way-- and the knock on her window pushed her thoughts as her gaze jolted in that direction, only to find Larry standing there waiting.

Opening the door to her car, Megan offered her best smile in greeting then pulled her keys out of the ignition. "Hey handsome--I thought you would be off helping Charlie." He strolled up close to the car and leaned his arm against the frame.

His gorgeous dimples showed as he smiled sweetly. "I guess you could say I was in the neighboring area, having a late afternoon lunch with Charles." Megan raised her eyebrow and leaned in to kiss his lips.

"And what did he say when you told him?" She smiled knowingly.

Larry lovingly took her hand and shrugged. "I think he was a tad mystified that I had beat him to the punch line." That eluded a laugh--their finger interlaced together and silence fell as they both glanced at the hospital. The unspoken questions lingered in the air.

"You really think he was counting on being first?" she smiled teasingly as they walked along the paved sidewalk, making their way towards the hospital entrance. He shrugged again, as they stopped by the benches and she took an ill swipe across her forehead with the back of her hand. For late afternoon, it was quite hot for the beginning of this March day."I think it was probably the element of surprise that really got him."

"With them I find it hard to predict. Charles is madly in love with Amita but I believe he is still trying to find the middle of his proposal equation."She raised her brow, a confident but uneasy smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"I understand some of those things. But since you asked I've been wondering besides the factor of love, what makes one curious to do such a thing?" She prompted sitting down at the end of the bench. Her right hand patted the empty space beside her and he sat down.

The frame of his body straightened as he took in a deep breath. "It is solely for the connection inside that I never want to lose."

Megan blinked. Her predictions were correct. He didn't want to lose her, period. Yet he respected what she did and her decision of leaving her job and making changes would not make that connection any easier. The wind curled underneath her hair, blowing it outwards. And if that connection were to skip forward just a bit, how would they fare then?

His glance heeded over her shoulder, interrupting her thoughts as a young mother with a young boy, no older than one, struggling to keep a hold on him as he wiggled. The other hand held tightly to her three-year-old daughter's hand, while her fingers tightly held onto a small white pharmacy bag. In the girl's mouth was a sucker to which she was throughly enjoying, her other arm swinging back and forth, a tornequet of a pink bandage wrapped over the crease of her elbow.

Her gaze crossed past her mother and brother over to them, the corner of her lips raising into a childish--happy smile. Fingers curled around the stick of the sucker as she gazed over her shoulder after both Larry or Megan were no longer in view that way. Her green eyes glinted in the sunlight and her little hand waved at them again .

Megan gave her own wave, even Larry waved slightly with a raise of his hand and the girl smiled and turned back before disappearing. Silence hedged between them as birds sang happily from the trees.

"Something is on your mind. I know that look." Larry pointed out, resting his elbow against the back of the bench.

"I am." Gazing at her watch--she checked the time. There would be no point in being late. "I was thinking about what might possibly ruin this moment if something were to happen--that we weren't ready for."

"Name one thing."

"Tell me that you are honestly ready to take on parenthood?" It wasn't a question, but rather the deep thought of the heart that knew the answer.

Larry took on a thoughtful look. "That is one thing that I could certaintly work up to one day--" he paused and trailed off as she nodded and looked around the front of the hospital. The upkeep on the garden was very gorgeous. "But this is our future and as much as we hate to admit it, we do take the consequences that fall upon us."

* * *

TBC...


	2. Keep Breathing

Megan smiled, while keeping a light tone. "We'll see what you think when that sinks in." Pressing her long fingers to his forehead--she stood before taking a few steps in the direction of the sliding entrance doors to the hospital. He stood cautiously and took the few steps to be by her side as she looped her hand around his.

It took him a few minutes. His expression was deep in thought as they walked into the building. The steel doors opened momentarily and then closed before the thought was answered with a slight raise of head. Although he didn't answer his thought until after they had stepped out on the fifth floor, she was the first one to give her thoughts as they stepped out into the boundaries of light blue walls and white tile floors and doors in between.

They stopped by the first door on the right. "You know you don't have to go in." He looked almost uneasy as he studied her own expression. The last time she had been in the hospital was after she was kidnapped, and the last time she had stepped into the hospital was when she had been visiting Colby. She took in a considerate look, letting her body lean against the wall. "This connection--" Exhaling, Megan took in another deep breath, her chest rising then falling shortly. "It has a lot to do with the nature of the being inside. And you are not only afraid of the connection dying--but also losing the person that it has helped you be."

He stayed silent momentarily. "I could never imagine in a million years looking up at those stars and not seeing you reflecting light brighter than any of them." His voice was sincere--almost in a whisper.

She looked out the window out at the light blue sky and smiled gracefully. "You know that's one of the nicest things I've heard in such a long time. Being in the office has the definite perks, but I feel like we've lost perspective on the friendship side of things and the only thing left is work."

"Not all is lost." Larry pointed out, shoving his hands into his pocket. "Soon enough we'll all have to come to a full circle because a circle can never fully be one unless it is completed." His hand grasped the handle and genty ushered her into the room, letting the door close behind them.

They entered the room, and he saw what she meant about being ready. Who was he kidding? He wasn't ready to be a father. A few kids ran around the play area of the waiting room, chatting animatedly with each other, while their parents sat nearby. In the majority of the room chairs were filled with mothers--some watching their children while reading a magazine on the side.

Swiping a magazine off the top of the pile Larry took a seat while Megan checked in at the front desk. A few minutes later she came back and sat down beside him, with a clipboard in her hand. He barely moved as he watched two children crouch down and each grasp a doll figure in their small little hands.

Peering down at the clipboard,then back up, Megan gazed over at Larry. She couldn't help smiling as he had his elbows perched on his legs with his chin in the palm of his hand. The magazine that he picked up just a few minutes was sitting beside him, and it took him a few seconds as he gazed over at her as she started filling out the papers on the clipboard.

"I can't believe that it has almost been a year since I've been here last." Megan pointed out, tapping the end of the pen on the clipboard. Larry stayed silent. His eyes drifted back towards the mother and her two kids. The nurse stood at the door, looking on cheerily as the two kids quickly joined at their mother's side. It was clear that everything now was sinking in, being put into recognition.

In fact it was for her too.

And the fact that one minute she didn't know where her life was taking her, or the value, it was like everything was being laid out in front of her. Like having a baby or being married to the person seemed to have taken its own sweet time, and never thought to be quite this possible to have--to suddenly be able to hold your husband's hand and have them stand right there beside you as you nuture and rock your child to sleep.

But now it was definitely possible.

"You know I am glad that you are here." Megan smiled happily as he laid his hand on top of hers. A door opened and a familiar voice called out to her.

"Megan"

"I am too." Megan told Larry with a wide grin, in a low enough voice that only he could hear what she was saying. With that she stood and followed Patricia Erickson through the door.

"So how are you?" Patricia asked in greeting as Megan followed her to the second room on the right. Her lengthy figure long, black shoulder length hair in spiraled curls.

"I am pretty good." Megan followed with no hesitation. "I didn't realize how good it was to sleep in my own bed."

Erica nodded in agreement as she washed her hands in the sink. "Your own bed does wonders after being away for so long. Let me tell you, when my husband and I get back from our yearly traveling, even though the kids are with us it still feels good to come home, put up our feet and relax."

"I never realized that you were married or had any kids." Megan sat down in a seat, pulling her purse into her lap. Patricia feigned a shocked look as she turned around, the palms of her hands grasping the counter.

"Five years, Brian and I have been married. We have a four-year-old son named Joshua and a six-month old daughter named Libby. Actually her name is Olivia but we figured Libby was a good nickname."

"Libby Erickson, has a good ring to it."

Patricia smiled and cast a look her way. "And you have seemingly snagged a handsome one, waiting just outside." Both laughed."Come on where'd you meet him?"

"I actually met him while I was working. He is a friend of my boss' brother." Megan was careful not to let the words 'former boss' slip through her words as she sat there. As much as she wanted to tell Don that her career in the bureau was over, something in her mind told her 'not yet'

Patricia's blue eyes sparkled as her lips formed an 'o' shape. "Megan has hit the jackpot."

"Remind me not to work you any harder in Krav Maga." Megan smiled teasingly, and leaned against the back of the chair.

"Speaking of Krav Maga, work seems to be kicking your butt. And you seem to be the talk of the YMCA."

Megan raised her eyebrow in regard to the first part of the statement. "I was sure they would give up about me teaching full time there or even the equivalent of teaching part time."

Patricia shook her head. "I still hear the talk from time to time. But I understand, the demands of work seem to get us more than others."

"It definitely catches up with you that's for sure." Megan agreed, feeling like the conversation was edging towards the question.

You mentioned experiencing tiredness and sickness the last time we talked. ,And with that tiredness can range in all different directions." Patricia began explaining as she pulled out her stool and sat down a few feet from Megan. "It could be all the stress catching up to you and your body is wearing down, or it could be something you don't think about or want to think about, such as cancer."

"And all are life changing experiences. What would you say if I thought that I may be pregnant?"

"I would tell you that it is definitely a great experience, and pregnancy could definitely be a factor in your tiredness." Scribbling something in her chart, Patricia then closed it and set it down on the exam table. "What I would like to do now is a simple blood test to determine if you are in fact pregnant. If you are I would then advise you to visit an obgyn as soon as possible to back you up with a full medical exam. If we find that you are not pregnant then I would like to determine what is causing all the symptoms you have been experiencing." Exhaling, Megan nodded mildly as Patricia studied the beginning of an uneasy look on her friend's face. " You really need to start letting the possibility sink in, Megan."

"You know I deal with cases every day, and no matter how bad they were. I always try to let them go." Megan offered, relaxing her arm as Patricia gathered the necessary needle, torniquet, and tube to take her blood. "I can't let this go."


	3. You Learn

"You don't have to be sure of what you think yet. After we run the test, I'll let you know." Patricia nodded in Megan's direction. "In the mean time I'll get this delivered to the lab immediately." Grabbing a pen out of her coat pocket Patricia labeled the tube, and offered what was meant to be a gentle and warm smile as Megan then left the room.

As Megan entered back into the waiting room, Larry looked over at her, observing her expression as she wrapped her arm gently around his and they left the office. He gave her a coaxing expression as they slowly walked down the hall. She gave up the silence with a sigh. "It will be at least a day or two before either one of us knows. And until then I take prenatal vitamins and the precautions as if I were." Megan wrapped her hand tighter around his as she hesitantly pushed back some stray hair back behind her ear. "And until now I've had no reason to explain."

"A person does not need to explain if it is not needed." Larry quoted wisely as they entered the frame of the door that led to the stairs. She tried to smile but it turned out to be more of a sad smile as tears brimmed up in her eyes.

"When I was in Oklahoma I was in a great relationship. We were happy and I don't think either one of us were expecting things to change." Her expression grew more downcast as more tears brimmed and threatened to fall--which was an immediate indication that things had changed for them.

His heart swelled, arm tightened around hers in more of a protective gesture knowing that she was here with him now. And for that he would be eternally grateful, even though her pain echoed through his veins like a beating drum. Every word that she spoke was comforting and another reason to believe that she was opening up to him on her own terms.

Her right hand curled around the top of his arm. "At six months, I woke up feeling that something wasn't quite right. That morning I had an appointment and they did an ultrasound." A tear ran down her cheek. Everything began to set in on why she was so hesitant this time. She held her up hands, they were shaking, as if she were cradling a small child. They stopped just at the base of the steps.

His arm unhooked from hers as his hands gently wiped away her tears. She tried to look away but found that she couldn't. His fingers gently touched lightly against the muscles of her jaw. "None of this is your fault, or his for that matter."

"It could have been my fault." She edged slightly upon anger, then exhaled. "I went to counseling before I left after we buried our son but I don't think it helped.

"Does this little boy have a name?" Larry offered, stealing a glance in her direction.

Megan chuckled sadly as she nodded. "His name was Max. Max Cooper Jones" Larry gazed into the pained look in her eyes as his hands interlaced with hers in support, and she offered him a grateful smile.

"I bet he was as beautiful as his mother." He spoke softly as they continued their way down the stairs. He was taking the news better than she had thought he would have. He seemed to have that short look of envy in his expression at the thought of his heart and soul with another man, but still a new sense of ease about him.

She touched his shoulder and held firmly."I know this can't be easy to hear." They continued walking, slower this time.

He nodded once but seemed to have a question in mind. "And nobody else knows about this."

Megan gazed up towards the ceiling "Nobody has to. Ironically I was put into several working projects that kept me in the office. I had been working back in the office before I even found out that I was pregnant. Of course I had to let my supervisor at the time know what was going on but other than that I didn't talk about it. Then after a few months when I could no longer hide the fact that I was, I began talking about it." She hesitated. "After finding out Max was stillborn I had asked for an immediate transfer."

They walked on silence as they passed the third floor sign. Silence breaking as they reached the last landing of the first floor. "When I was up in space--" He exhaled as if a heavy weight had just been lifted just at the few words he had offered. "It was so serene and so calm. However one thing had always been missing." She observed the expression on his face. "I was not just a million miles from earth--the fact is I had to find some way to move on until I could visibly see you again."

"Which is your way of saying there is life after death." Opening the passenger door for her, Larry gently helped her into her seat. The sun's rays cast through the glass, creating a bright warm atmosphere as she shielded her eyes with her hand and closed her eyes momentarily as he rounded his way to the driver's side.

Before she knew it, she was nodding off to sleep. The echo of the car door opening and the engine reveing to life was the last thing she remembered as he drove her back to her apartment. It only seemed like a few minutes and his hand was on her shoulder and stirring her from her dreams.

She sat up and exhaled, taking in a deep breath. Her son's tiny hand that wrapped around hers, faded. Her hand reached for the door handle, only opening as she shakily stepped out before gagging. Larry was there beside her, knowing that he should get her inside the apartment. "Thanks Larry" Megan said with appreciation as soon as he had handed her a bowl and helped her sit down on the couch.

Larry rubbed his hands together hesistantly and sat down on the chair beside her. He watched as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. What he didn't know was all she saw was her son. And It wasn't until a long stretch later of nightmares that she sat up abrubtly.

Walking quietly to the bathroom, Megan closed the door and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. Her fingers gently ran over four frames that held sentimental photographs, leaning against the wall. At one time she had thought about hanging them in the middle of the wall in her living room with the words 'family' and 'team', stenciled in black calligraphy just above the hanging photos.

The photos had been taken before knowing of Colby's betrayal. And in each one of those photos she was captured with a teammate. Megan grasped the first frame with her hand and smiled sadly. It was of her and Colby, sitting on opposite couches, heads thrown back in laughter.

The conversation came back to her as if in a flashback--that moment coming back to life. _"You know I've never heard you sing before."_

_"You really want me to hear me sing." Colby inquired with a chuckle as they sat there on the studio couch waiting for their turn to be photographed. "I don't think you do." He shook his head._

_"This is your one time offer." Megan added with a teasing glance, like as if he couldn't pass this opportunity up. "Come on, Granger. How often do we do this kind of thing. Maybe I should be asking how often the team actually gets together just to be silly."_

_"Okay, alright--you win." Granger threw his hands up in the air and leaned forward. He paused. "I need a song."_

_"Yellow Submarine--a classic" David offered as he walked by the couch to get a drink of water._

_"Let It Be." She suggested another classic Beatles song as she stood from the couch, ."I' will be right back."_

_"I'll Be There'" Amita suggested the song, walking by to take a seat by the water cooler._

_"That is a good one." Megan called back behind her with a smile and disappeared into the bathroom._

_Colby shook his head. "It has to be one that I know." Shrug. "And out of those two songs suggested, I know Yellow Submarine the best."_

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts as Larry peeked in. The frame was still tightly in her hand. "Hey Larry" She breathed out a sigh of relief and let the picture fall back against the others. "Hope I didn't wake you." He stepped into the room awkwardly, shaking his head and pointed to the pictures.

"What are these?"

"They are pictures of the team. I have our picture but I haven't hung it up yet. I was going to have it blown up and place it on the other side of the wall in my room." She got a sudden thought as she stood and interlaced her fingers with his. "I want to show you something." Guiding him up the stairs, Megan stopped when they stood in front of her door. Her free hand twisted the knob then flicked on the light.

And there hanging just above her bed was a big, beautiful picture of Megan holding her son. Larry was sure there was much more to the eye that you could not see. The glint of tears in her eyes held love and a gaze meant only for her son as her lips twisted in a loving smile.

Megan looked down and picked at a thread on her jeans before laying down and patting the empty space next to her. "You ever get a hold of your father?" Letting her head rest tiredly on the pillow, Megan's green eyes stared up at him with compassion.

"I called, but hung up." He shrugged, moving his hand to rest beside her.

"You know I did that once." Megan smiled sleepily. "Look where it got me." She paused thoughtfully as she studied his expression. You should try calling him tomorrow. I think he would be grateful to know that at least you are not a prank caller." Tiredly Megan sat up and leaned against the backboard of her bed as he joined her and she ended up resting her head against his shoulder. It had to be well past midnight and she felt every bit of exhaustion as her eyes closed shut.


	4. Angel Without Wings

"Hey dad" Don opened up the fridge and took out a cartoon of orange juice, setting it on the counter. Alan watched his son's actions as Don grabbed a glass and poured himself some juice.

"What would make my son get up so early on a Sunday morning?"

Don eyed him and polished off his half glass of juice in one gulp, before placing his glass in the sink. "I was just about to go for a jog" He had on blue sweat pants and a dark brown t-shirt. His father gave him a cautious look."You know I have some things that I wanted to think about, so I thought jogging would be ideal."

"Are those keys I see hanging out of your pocket? You wouldn't happen to be going to be making a stop at the office." Don stuffed the keys back into his pocket and weaved past him.

He called over his shoulder. "Actually I was thinking about swinging by a different park not by here so I will see you later, okay?" In one fluid motion Don let the swinging door close behind him, nearly colliding into Charlie.

Alan shook his head as his oldest son mumbled some kind of apology and stormed out. "What has gotten into him?" Charlie inquired and set some files and books onto the table.

"I am thinking it has something to do with feeling like his team is falling apart."

"You give him one of your fatherly advice speeches again?" Charlie had an amused expression on his face as he sat down at the table.

"My usual advice" Alan corrected, standing up from his place and drained the rest of his coffee from his mug. "And you know I wanted to ask Larry a question--"

"The last time I heard, he was with Megan." Charlie interjected, looking over at his father from the paper he was correcting.

Alan raised his eyebrow. "They seem to be spending a lot of time together these days. Pretty soon we will be hearing that the two of them are engaged." Charlie made what seemed like a choking sound and ducked his head, before clearing his throat.

"How much of that conversation did you hear?"

--

Megan had been up for almost an hour, and had just poured milk over her cereal and was about to retreat back to the living room when the doorbell rang. She knew that It couldn't have been Larry. He had left almost an hour ago after finally getting ahold of his father, and had borrowed her car.

With one hand holding her cereal, she walked carefully towards the door, unlocking each lock before twisting the knob. She stood there with the door half open. She took one look at the pouring rain, then at him. "Are you crazy Don, running in the rain?" She scolded. Setting her bowl on the table by the door, Megan ushered him inside. "How long have you been out there?" Her tone took on more of a concerned outlook.

"One thing--I drove here." He watched her shake her head at his half answer and retreated toward the hall closet upstairs and grabbed a towel.

"Are you sure? You look like a drenched rat." She looked almost amused as she came back down the stairs with a large brown towel in hand. "The bathroom is upstairs on your first right. It might be wise if you dried off before we talk." Grabbing her bowl, Megan retreated into the kitchen as he silently went up the stairs and closed the door.

He looked around her bathroom. Everything was neatly placed in the black and white form; salt and pepper counters, equipped with a toothbrush holder, a bar of soap, and face wash. Two towels were folded and sat on the rack behind him. The shower curtain to the right of him was drawn in and had a big print of the Eiffel Tower.

Five minutes later, he stepped out into the hall and found himself gazing at a few pictures that he had never seen before. But what caught his eye next had him down the hall. He usually wasn't one for prying, at least not on his own team. But the illuminated light on the framed photograph hanging above the bed, made her look as if she were an angel without wings. Even so as her hands protected a child so tiny but still welcomed to the world, nonetheless.

Quickly just as he had gone down the hall, he pushed himself back down the stairs, realizing the lack of footsteps and quiet atmosphere, he decided it was time to find Megan. And he found her sitting in the kitchen with her back to him as she casually flipped through a magazine.

"You get dried off?" She inquired. Not needing to turn around to know that he was standing behind her, she closed the magazine. He took a seat to the right of her catching the title of the magazine from the corner of his eye as she pushed it to the side of the table.

Good Housekeeping--I never knew she read that. He thought to himself. Don looked up to realize she now had her chin resting against her hand, observing him.

"Are you going to tell me why you are here?" Megan gave him a familiar look. Her smile had that hint of control that could hold attention, even if the attention was not needed to complete the process. Eyes like light sparkling emeralds, glinting with full emotion behind them.

Sadness was one. Perhaps it was the fact that she was moving on, considering that she was leaving her job and the people she loved. He had told her to think about what she was doing and her green eyes had swelled up with tears. Like behind the decision, she already knew that this was the right thing to do.

For one he had never seen her show this much emotion. She always had this facade of control that kept him in his place--all of them in their place. She was the centerpiece of the team, and it was all falling apart.

He didn't know what to say to that and the domino effect threatening to tumble in a moment's notice. It caught him in a silent act, not like him at all, and she knew it. Her tired eyes focused on his, still caring, putting all her worries to the side for the time being.

"How have you been doing?" Was all that he could pull out.

"I am pretty sure you did not come to ask me how I was doing, Don. We are all pretty stubborn federal agents, and we all put on an act at some point or another. We know how to twist the system like the back of our hands."

A smirk lifted the corner of his lip. "You can say that again." He thought about the picture upstairs and shook his head. He still had to wonder, who was that child she was holding? It had to be of importance if it was hanging on her wall, over her bed. Even the pictures leaning against the bathroom wall. Don wanted to talk about so much, whether it had been things he had been pushing away or questions that had constantly been going through his head, because some things just weren't adding up.

But this wasn't going to be easy. Usually he wasn't the one to admit the wrong. "I know these last past few months have been rough, for all of us. You know, you should be able to make your own decisions." Megan nodded, trying to follow along. "Without feeling like someone is breathing down your neck."

"We have had some pretty rough terrain." She nodded again in agreement. "But that wouldn't be the reason for my leaving." He then consciously started noticing the lack of coffee in his system. "I have some thing along the way, that I don't even know would work with handling with the demands of working at the Bureau." Megan laid her left hand softly on the table, and began twisting at the ring on her finger.

Don raised his eyebrow in question and decided to take the different route. "What exactly happened on that assignment?" Her gut wrenched and twisted at his inquiry.

She looked away, prepared to put up a fight. "What makes you think that I could tell you?" Her green eyes fell in his line of direction.

" I know you have a lot going through your mind right now, but you have to start letting someone in."

"And you have?" Her eyebrow raised sharply, which was a bad sign that he had gotten her started. The ring on her finger clashed against the wooden table. "I've hardly been able to get a word not related to work out of you. Let alone anybody else on the team. I come back and I no longer feel trusted or needed."


	5. Don't Let Go

Don started to wonder where everything was coming from, then slowly started to put everything together. No wonder his team was falling apart. He watched her stand up and walk into the kitchen, breathing out steam.

"Look. I understand that this hasn't been what you wanted. I never expected things to go the way that they did." His tone was meaningful.

She filled her glass up with water and sat back down at the table. "It has been a long week--long night." He looked up and observed the inflection in her tone. She was steeling, her gaze now on the floor of the kitchen.

"I can see that. If anything went down there, I know that you must have kicked some butt." That made both of them smirk. "But I can definitely vouch for the long week."

"What ever ended up happening in that case? I never heard the ending piece." The strain in the room fluctuated between them.

Don shrugged. "The husband ended up having someone kill his wife for insurance money to pay off a bet with a guy named Joseph Hadly."

"He definitely ended up taking a run for his money."

"You got that right." And then silence took over again. The sudden upbeat in their conversation was just shooting over the rift between them. "You know, you have the right to be angry."

"I just wish you would say what was on your mind instead of holding it all in. And I am guessing that guilty expression is not going to hold up much longer."

Don sat up in his seat. "Some times I wonder how you read people like books."

"That would be my speciality." She smiled geniuenly. He shifted to take comfort back into the chair he was sititng in. "But if I had to guess further I would say that you did something or saw that needs further information--"

"Okay" He cut her off. "What have you been doing, spying on me while I was upstairs?"

She raised her eyebrow. " I know that you would have gathered more information since the day I left, if you could have." Which was probably the reason that she had turned off her phone. "And I don't know. Did you do anything out of the ordinary while you were upstairs?"

"I washed my hands--"

"And you saw the picture." She spoke gently. "I left my door open when I came out this morning." He looked up at her and within his gaze he knew the answer to his, and then presented the unspoken question. He exhaled, and something inside of him clicked like a light. Despite the look in her eye that told him not to ask too many questions, her gaze also told him that this was not a huge subject in her books.

Was it normal that right now she felt like crawling underneath a rock? Of course it was. She had barely talked about the subject.

"He was my son, Don" Her eyes trailed, and she wasn't even sure why she was telling him.

Even though he knew her answer would be something like that, but he still found himself silent. Because even though that had been his own answer, it was all becoming real. Perhaps because he was starting to feel like he hadn't taken the time to get to know her like he should have.

All of his team. He didn't know any of them.

Of course he didn't.

Colby had been a triple agent for the Chinese--something like it. And it had shattered his team.

Megan was leaving. Yet she had been the only one who seemed to understand Colby, even though she still struggled with the fact that he had betrayed them all.

David was more like a hidden broken wheel. Even if he began to trust Colby again, none of them had sat down and talked about everything that had happened. But she had. Megan had given them the chance to spill their hearts out.

So was it too late to call it?

He stood. "I just thought of something I have to do. I'll call you later." Megan didn't like the sound of his plan and she cocked her head cautiously in his direction and efficently stood. But he didn't move.

"What are you thinking about doing? It is pouring outside."

"I was thinking about saving what's left of my team." He mumbled, turning his back to her, and running his hand through his still slightly wet hair.

"How do you think the rain is going to help you there? You should go home. It is your day-off, if I correctly remember. Things are not going to change instanteously just because you want it to happen."

He looked over his shoulder. "I can still try." and he turned away.

--

_How much of that conversation did you hear? Charlie had asked his father cautiously._

_"I heard enough to know that Don's team is falling apart, and that Megan is thinking about leaving."_

_Charlie gazed over at him and nodded. The look in his father was slightly saddened at the thought."There is no final answer to what she is going to do. It could go either way."_

_"Of course it can. But we both know for a fact that his team is still his family."_

Charlie exhaled, taking in another breath and flipped another paper into the corrected pile. He had never completely gotten his brother. But Charlie knew from a fact that Don would never let this go down without a fight.

Marking another paper with a red correction, Charlie felt a strange sense of satisfaction. Despite now being alone in the kitchen, the pen marking the page seemed to flow with his emotions, and in effort to keep himself busy. One after another, Charlie sat at the table alone. One pile grew larger, while the other dwindled.

After their conversation Alan had made a beeline upstairs to get ready for the day, leaving Charlie alone to his thoughts. To which Charlie was now comparing the two piles, to a new equation flowing through his head. Tapping his hand on the edge of the table, Charlie got up and gathered all the papers, stacking them in a opposite manner before heading into the garage. And that is where Don found his brother about an hour later. The chalkboard filled to capacity with a working equation.

"What is all this?"

Charlie edged around slightly as he turned around to face Don. "I don't actually have a name for it just yet." He took a look at his brother's expression as he stepped forward. "Let me guess you took a walk through the rain."

Don shook his head, with a heavy thump on the couch. "I was actually visiting Megan."

"It doesn't look like it went so well." Charlie put the chalk back down to rest on the holder

Leaning his head back against the couch, Don mumbled his response."It went better than I thought it would." There was a slight pause and then he abrubtly sat up and scrubbed his hands over his face.

"Feel like talking about it?"

"Nah" He stood, and Charlie glanced at Don as his brother began walking slowly towards the door. As if on a second thought Don turned around to face him. "Forget I even said anything." He waved a hand and was about to head back towards the door.

"You know I am always here if you need to talk. " Charlie tried again with a brief touch of knowledge that his brother probably wouldn't be taking the offer.

Don exhaled and took his seat on the couch again. "You know that dad heard the conversation between you and Larry." Don informed Charlie, and was clearly aware of what his brother had been thinking.

"So I heard. But fortunately he didn't hear all of it." Charlie gave him a grim expression. "I think because he heard the bad before the good, he missed out."

"Wait a minute." Don raised his eyebrow. "If he heard the bad before the good, then what is the good news?" Staying tight-lipped about the whole matter, Charlie picked his chalk back up and grasped it in his hands.

"Of course telling you, would neither be fair to Larry or Megan." Charlie spoke quietly and thoughtfully. _And it would definitely not be fair to betray a good friend's trust._


	6. Disarm

Don turned around, furrowing his brow as he stared at his brother. "What, Charlie…" His brows dipped further, as he sat down on the couch as if he were physically counting down his options. Then everything started to sink in. Things changing after Megan had come back from assignment, looking like she had sunk ship after landing back on ground. And then she had taken refuge in Larry's arms—had grown closer in harmony, except that harmony fell apart when she was around the team. "Something happened on that assignment, Charlie." Don took in a deep breath, scrubbing his hands over his face.

Charlie made a face at his brother's recognition. "Try being the world's biggest jerk." Don glared at his brother as he sat rigidly against the couch, then Don's expression become hard as he sat there staring into the quiet afternoon. What exactly happened on that assignment? His words came floating back to him. What makes you think that I could tell you? Her retort came back loud and clear. "Stop making everything your business and focus what you have in front of you."

"What's that suppose to mean? They are my team Charlie. And the last time I checked, my team was falling apart." Don threw out with a hard edge. "It may not be my business to follow their every move, but you know for a fact that you shouldn't let it parade in the air for the world to see." Don stopped, letting it sink it. It felt like he was eating his own words. And perhaps he was.

"Did you ever stop to think for one minute that somebody on your team would want to move on--" Charlie still held the chalk in his hand, which was now waving and back and forth with his hand motions. "Not because you want them to, but that somebody feels that they are no longer needed and the communication has been broken among the team, that they feel that it would be time to move on. Or perhaps that something deeper is in play here that is not in your line of knowledge."

Don's face screwed up as if he were going to argue his point, but then let it fade into realization, of course with an edge. "No, I didn't think of it that way. And since when did you become knowledgeable on what my team wants?"

Contemplating on how he could further the point to his brother, Charlie gave an exasperated sigh. Since when had his brother become this hard headed? Okay, so Don always added hardness to his methods. So what could he say, other than what he was thinking; since you stopped realizing that your team had feelings and things deep down that could never been told. At least that's what came to mind when he saw the glint in Megan's eyes after she had come back from assignment. Like if she had been warning him of things to come or how things were going to change. And now it all made sense.

With that Charlie went the hard way, the way that meant it was for the best. "Haven't you noticed the change? It's not just your team that is falling apart."

It took a second but realization set in as Don gazed up his brother. Charlie offered his brother a grim look and a nod as if he were telling him 'Megan is falling apart…not just the team… and it was there all along.'

'He was my son, Don' a phrase that had floated over his head at the time but was begging him to pay attention now. 'Was' was the key word here. The emotion in her eyes as she had said that had hit him, at his newfound discovery. And in a way she was giving him a peek of what went on in her life.

Her child had been too small to have made an appearance into the world, when he did. At first it had been hard to take in to find out that she had a son, and was somewhere out there who Megan had to watch being buried into the ground. At least that was the impression that he had gotten. "She hasn't talked about anything. It's like when she came back, she had some kind of heavy burden on her shoulders that can't be lifted."

"Maybe there is." Charlie's eyes flickered up to his, and silence filled the room. He turned back to his equation on the board and scribbled in some more information in the last available space. Even Don could see that Charlie had just found his answer. And there was some initial link to the subject and the equation on the board.

Don sat up, "Something tells me you found your answer."

Turning around abruptly, Charlie grasped in his hand the chalk that he had been writing on, and shook his head. "The answer to your problems doesn't lie in this equation, but this tells me that the answer more lies in your hearts. The connection in the team is breakable but stronger than you know Don. You just have to trust it for it to work."

--

Megan stepped into the office for the first time in a week. An absence of coffee was the only thing that had changed as she walked over to her desk and sat down. Hoping for some silence, she sighed and reached into her pocket as she set her phone on top of the desk. Today would most likely be the day she would find out whether she would have to further worrying to do or if this child should be a symbol of relief.

No matter how much she denied she might be, she found herself more and more thinking about it. This unborn child would be her future, the chance she never got.

A rush of air went past her, causing her to look up, then to the side where a coffee cup had been placed on her desk. There was a sudden aroma of warmth and comfort, something new and refreshing. "Thought you would need a pick me up. It's bound to be a long day."

"Thanks Granger. What's with the sudden hospitality?"

Colby shrugged, leaning against her desk. "Consider it as a peace offering." She gazed up at him cautiously. He let out a laugh, and took a swig of his coffee. "Good comes to those who bring back the gifts."

She smiled graciously. "Ah, so that's the secret to getting good coffee around here." Letting out a laugh, she took the coffee into hand. "Well if that's the case, then maybe I should do that a little more often."

"Yeah," He nodded, amused, as he straightened and began to walk to his own desk. "Who said I brought coffee?"

She raised her brow with a cautious grin as she opened the lid. The aroma was stronger than before. "I smell peppermint, that's a new one Granger."

"Heard that it was supposed to calm a stomach." He shrugged at the look she shot him. "You're not the only one who sees things around here. "She turned around in her chair, and then back as she took a sip.

Moments later she heard him pull up his chair a few feet away from her desk. "It may be none of my business, but I know well enough that something has changed here."

"Before you start asking questions Granger, you might want to fill yourself in." Megan took a look around the office. It was still empty and still too early for too many people to have arrived.

He took her inquiry and nodded. "So besides seeing you worshipping the toilet, what am I going to have to assume here?" She rocked in her chair, his eyes on her as she took another sip.


	7. Giving It Away

Megan swallowed, "I never said I ever had anything to defend." putting the cup down with a resounding of Styrofoam hitting wood, she turned around in her chair. He raised his eyebrow, but sat quietly. "On the trip to New York I had plenty of time to decide that it was time to move on."

"And you're still thinking about doing that?" He led into the continuing conversation.

"You know the phrase, just when you think that you've figured it out?" He gave one subtle nod. "I keep going back to that—and every time it's just a little harder to come back. After assignment after everything I saw, it made my skills," She changed her word of thought, although her eyes reflected sadness. "Let's just say it gave me another view with a hard edge."

He cocked his head to the side, a line of understanding on his lips. "The other side may have been brutal, but I think we've both found that it's no heaven."

"Yeah, well it's definitely not something that I would like to do again." Megan sighed, a brief smirk of relief shadowed over her expression and she was glad that she was here and not there back in Washington D.C. Colby sat up, sitting back against his chair.

"Yeah. Me either." It was quiet between them, and Colby had an idea. "You know you may not be able to talk about those experiences, but they are always going to be there if you don't."

Turning towards him, she cocked her head to the side, with an almost amused expression. "You telling me that you've talked about every experience you've encountered while being a Chinese spy?" She asked wisely, now with a smirk just bordering on her lips.

"I'm starting to think that some of those experiences aren't meant for words. Not because they weren't meant to be said, but because not everybody needed to know what I was thinking at the time."

"And what about now?"

"I think I've wanted to but I've never found the right person to talk about it. What about you? Ever feel like talking about it?"

I've thought about it.

"Constantly." She reported carefully, picking out a file from the pile. "I'm not sure there was ever a time that I haven't thought about it."

"So much that you would think that no one would notice the change?" Her green eyes gazed at him, so much that he knew immediately that he had hit a chord. Colby shook his head. "You're not the only one who endured torture while away."

Turning the page of the file in front of her abruptly, Megan slowly started to compose herself. "What makes you so sure that I endured torture?"

"I had the same look that you've been carrying around for months."

"You know it's not the same after going through something that's life changing. Every case and victim we see and help, their lives will never be the same because they've seen another side that has changed them." Megan roughly pushed some hair back behind her ear. "Can you personally say that your life hasn't changed from what you've seen?"

Colby glanced somewhere in the distance, "No, actually it changes everything." stretching his arms out he stood from his seat, then sat back down. "When I was in the army I watched my friends die right next to me. " He shrugged, trying to shake of the feelings, the images that he saw going through his head. "And when I was on that boat I caused another person to die. Possibly even several people."

"You know that it wasn't your fault." The tone of her voice was comforting, although tired, which brought him back to the question in the back of his mind.

Colby shrugged. "Yeah, well. I guess I would owe him my life if he were still alive. I wouldn't be here if he hadn't of stepped in when he had." A short pause, "We've all been a little distant around here." One by one, his gaze traveled from each desk in thought, as if proving his point of his distant teammates. The gaze on her desk where she sat was given the most attention, followed by his own.

"More than a little distant." Megan let her chin rest against her hand, then sat up and closed the file in front of her, gently sliding it away. "I've barely been able to get one word that doesn't end in work around here."

"I guess that means you're still thinking about quiting." Standing up, he wheeled his chair back to his desk, gazing back constantly as he waited eagerly for her response. A part of him was concerned, and the other side of him didn't like seeing her like this; and yet he partially blamed himself for it.

Cocking her head to the side, she saw right through him. "We can all play the blame game, but this circle we're going in--and I've been thinking about quiting since I got back from assignment."

Colby walked back over and leaned against the wall of her cubicle. "I know. And you quiting wouldn't have anything to do with what happened back on assignment."

"That's partially why I have been thinking about. I was thinking about moving on to bigger and better things; trying something new for a change."

"What did you have in mind?" Crossing his arms across his chest, his stomach seemed to drop. She wasn't only a friend, but an amazing co-worker.

"One thought I had would to stay here and teach at the YMCA. The other that I would like to do would be to go back and get my doctorate and counsel women in prison."

"You talked about this with Larry?"

She shot him a wistful look. "We're slowly talking about everything. I don't think we're in that big of a rush to make a decision on what our relationship holds for the future." Her fingers lightly touched over the files.

Something in her tone tipped him off to ask, "Okay so no more long distance relationship, so why not now?"

"Let's just say that this time things are a little more complicated then the last time either one of us took flight."

"In what way? It's not like you and Larry are engaged..." Megan set a suspicious glance in his direction. Quickly grabbing some files she stood up, placed some files onto Don's desk and returned back to her desk. a moment later, "You're engaged to Larry."

"You really expect me to answer a question I don't intend on answering." She offered him a raise of her eyebrow, and a dry chuckle, "You'll just have to wait and see just like everybody else." Patting him on the shoulder both Don and David made their way out of the elevator and were headed in their direction.

_This was going to be a long day._


	8. Little Girl

**Revised September 23, 2008.**

--

Two cups of coffee later--or lack of it in her perspective--led them right through the day nonetheless. To her dismay there was no phone call from Dr. Meyers, and although the day was slow it left them to catch up on the growing stack of files that piled up on their desks.

One file after another was sifted through, during the middle of it however her phone finally rang and she quickly pulled it out of her pocket and walked out of earshot from the team.

"Reeves."

All three pairs of eyes shifted with her over to the break room, mostly out of curiosity. Each held questionable glances in some form or another. Colby flipped through another page in the file that he was working on. Don just leaned back in his chair not saying a word, while David shook his head in undeniable frustration.

"Is it just me or is something fishy going on with Reeves?"

Don glanced coarsely in their direction and leaned forward in his chair, his eyebrows raised considerably. "Since when do we wonder?" Colby glanced up first with a wonder of speculation in his eyes before closing the file and sticking it on top of the others.

His eyes flickered from side to side, on whether to disclose the information of which he had seen earlier, only to quickly decide against that since not knowing what the whole cause to her mysterious figure since returning to LA.

"Ever think she might be making a decision?" Don inquired, not looking up.

Colby and David sat up considerably straighter, exchanging a glance. David cut in. "That would make some sort of sense. Although I also remember something about her being considerably upset when she left this building last week. You wouldn't happen to know about that would you?"

Don took in a deep breath, bracing himself as he pushed his chair away from his desk. He really didn't want to talk about last week. Not to mention, embracing the fact that they had seen the whole thing from a distance and were mildly interested on what that meant. They just didn't yet know that whatever her decision was, it either meant that she was staying or that she was leaving. But some how he feels some how they know.

Because despite what they had all been through, whether it was him, David, Colby or her, they were still a team. A family, no matter what. At least deep within, that's what it felt like. Even though everything at the same time, threatened to pull their friendship apart into a darkened hole.

Colby cleared his throat, Don blinked and forced himself to refocus. From a distance he hears Megan's voice and stands up. "Yeah I know everything about last week." He reminded them clearly in a round of authority. "Although I think that is between Megan and whoever else she wants to clue in."

Loyalty. Definite loyalty. In fact Don was half surprised that she had even let him in the slightest degree. The way they had been going at it since she returned from her assignment. It was as if there was a flicker of hope at the end of the tunnel.

Both Colby and David exchanged a glance before Don turned towards his phone that was now going off. "Eppes." He raised the receiver to his ear, his brow furrowing as he looked absently over at them. By his expression they knew that there was another case coming their way, yet not knowing how much this case would change them all in the course of a few days.

While directly getting the information, Megan appeared behind the cubicles as she headed back towards her desk. Although her usual appearance was far from gone, she looked ruffled and had a grim expression of her face, almost like she didn't know what to think. However small the reassurance she was feeling right now as she walked back over, she glided around the corner. Despite it all, it only took one glance for her to counter in their boss' expression, movement, body language--to know that the ashen look on his face was just the beginning of a rising of something deep inside.

Sitting in her chair, she re-pocketed her phone, glancing occasionally up as she straightened items on her desk. All three of them caught words here and there as they listened to the conversation. Little girl. The two words that came up concerning this child that had been stuck in the middle, perhaps kidnapped. Nowhere in sight..broken window. Could have been at the house when her mother was killed. It was enough of a start to begin this case. Or hard enough to realize that one wrong movement could be destroying.

Colby raised his eyebrow, whistling in a low round as he pushed his chair away from his desk, gathering the finished files on his desk and putting them into an empty box. David followed with his own files on his desk and gathered another empty box, placing them in and closing the lid. "This can't be good. Missing child. Murdered woman. Anybody else thinking of a custody battle gone wrong?"

Megan opened a file, fingers sprawled on the edge of the page as her other hand held a pen aimlessly in thought. "Sounds like it. Then again, it could be anything."

David nodded in agreement, sticking the box beside his desk. "As we know without much detail, anything could have happened." He sat back at his desk just as Don closed his phone and clipped it to his belt.

They all glanced up at their boss with some kind of expectancy, to which he answered in a brief grim tone. "Andrea Lucas, found by her neighbor Joanna Burkley around eleven o'clock this morning, with a gunshot to her head. Looks like there was a struggle and it's also possible that whoever was in that house at the time also took Charlee; Andrea's five year old daughter. Time of death for Andrea was put around ten forty-five."

"Anybody in this neighborhood hear anything?" David chimed in, getting the feeling that the information they were receiving would be limited.

Tight lipped, Don leaned back in his chair. "Apparently tight community--although there are those few who aren't and would be willing to give the information." All three of them slowly stood simultaneously, getting ready to head out. "Why don't you and Colby see what you can find out at the crime scene and Megan and I will see if we can find somebody in this tight community that can give us an idea on how this all went down."

--

When David and Colby arrived at the crime scene, an officer lead them over to where a woman in her mid-thirties, hair in a tight ponytail, was leaning against an oak tree. "...Joanna Burkley was the first one to see Andrea, called police from her house." He gestured over at a house with gray siding and a beautiful porch. Not to mention eight pairs of eyes were gazing over in their direction.

"Those her children?" Colby inquired as they continued to walk over to where Joanna Burkley was still standing with a pot of soup sitting beside her on the ground.

The police officer looked back in the direction of the house. "Yeah, they all came trickling out as soon as we got here." All three of them walked the few remaining steps to where Joanna Burkley with tear stained cheeks and almost in shock, had not moved an inch from where she stood. He led them over and then excused himself promptly as Colby and David approached her.

"We're agents Sinclair and Granger, mind telling us what happened?"

She stared quite detached from everything as tears welled up in her eyes. "How can anybody do something like this?" She asked in disgust, tears now rolling down her cheeks. Shaking her head momentarily, she leveled her eyes to theirs for the first time. "Andrea was an amazing person. A single mom who was working on a new life for raising her child. She struggled, really did, so we befriended her a few months ago when her and Charlee moved into the house next door."

"By we, you mean your kids." Colby chimed in, posed to write in his notebook that he had just pulled out of his pocket.

A brief nod, "And my husband. We were always helping her out, even helped watched Charlee most times when she had to go to work. I'm a stay at home mom and Charlee is a year younger than my youngest daughter Mikaela, so they go to the same school."

Both nodded, David went on asking the next question. "How long have Charlee and Andrea been living in this house?"

Joanna shrugged slightly, thinking back. "A few months. It had just been when my oldest Kathryn had started playing indoor soccer in January. Andrea had said that she was from the Los Angeles area but had been separating herself from her husband who was abusive, and wanted to have some order to protect Charlee. She said that he had been in jail and the week before he was suppose to get out, she took Charlee and ran."

"It sounds as if you and Andrea talked a lot about this." David inquired, looking around the crime scene and then at the pot of soup sitting on the ground beside her. "Did at any point while Andrea was living here, did she mention her husband's name"

"I think she mentioned that his name was Antonio. But I couldn't be for sure." Hesitation in her voice, she wiped the tears from her cheeks. "She didn't really like talk to about him. But some times when she would talk about running, she would let things slip."

"Like her husband's name." Colby offered, quickly writing all the information down that could be used later on this case.

"Right," She said quietly, hesitating. "Like her husband's name. I've never met the guy before but just the way she described him some times gave me chills. She told me that she took a new last name for her and Charlee when she moved here."

"New? So then her last name isn't Lucas."

Joanna shook her head, "No, it's not. I'm not sure what it is. Andrea never mentioned that in any of our conversations. She was careful enough not to mention her last name except for the one that she used." Looking out in the distance, she glanced into a new pair of eager eyes and her own eyes got wide. "I don't believe it--" She took a few steps forward just beyond them as Colby and David followed her gaze to the porch.

It took a moment but soon they too followed with surprised glances. Was that who they thought it was? They had searched all over for Charlee, and when they had looked over there just a few minutes ago that little girl hadn't been there.

"Charlee..." Joanna whispered, gazing at them. "That's Charlee. Andrea's little girl, I know that face from anywhere. But I even saw it, they were looking all over or her and nobody could find her. How did she..."

"That's what we're hoping to find out." David echoed her thoughts, stepping by her side. "Mind if we--"

"No go ahead. I should explain to my kids what's going on." She sniffled, walking beside them as they walked back on the other side of the yellow 'do not cross' tape and over to her house where they saw the little girl cautiously retreating back out of view, following her path was what looked like Joanna's oldest daughter.

"So when is the last time you actually talked or saw Andrea?" Colby asked as they got nearer to the house, all at the same time he was watching carefully to the scene that was unfolding as the front door to the house closed.

"Charlee has always been a bit shy. She made friends with Mikaela, actually found her talking to Charlee on the phone this morning, after I went into her room asked if she wanted to come along to take this soup over she declined and went back to talking on the phone. When I asked who she was talking to, she told me that it was Charlee and I asked if I could talk to Andrea for a minute so Charlee went to go get her."

"Do you remember what time that was at?"

"Around ten thirty?" She answered, not quite sure. "Yeah, it was around ten because the kids and I needed to clean the house before we went on vacation tomorrow. We were going to go visit my husband in Texas for a couple weeks. He's been gone for a few months now and won't be back for at least a couple more."

David and Colby nodded. "That was around the same time that Andrea was in a struggle with whoever was in the house." David assessed the timeline that was forming, turned back to Joanna, "We're going to need to talk to Charlee for a few minutes, but we would like to also talk to your daughter as well. It's possibly that if Charlee and your daughter had been talking and depending on how long, it's possible either one could have seen or heard something that could help us."

"They were still talking when I left. I asked my oldest daughter Kathryn to make sure that Mikaela didn't talk for to long since Charlee was sick. But when I got here the door to Andrea's house was unlocked. I knew something was wrong and opened the door to see Andrea slumped against the wall." She visibly shuddered, tears welling up in her eyes again. "I just about dumped the pot of soup by that tree when I was running back to the house." Pointing back to where they came from, they saw the gray pot still sitting there on the ground.


	9. Going To Be Alright

**Revised on September 29, 2008**

"She likes to play in here. And my second guess would be that she's hiding behind this couch." Joana's sixteen year old daughter led them into a fairly large living room area and crossed the room swiftly, peering behind the couch before stepping aside. Softly she gestured to them that she was in there.

Colby knelt to her level, surrendering to let her know that she safe. "Charlee, my name is Colby and my partner David. We're police officers." He identified the two of them "Charlee are you hurt?"

Charlee shook her head abruptly, eyes widening. "No."

David knelt beside Colby on the ground. Kathryn heard her name being called upstairs and she left the two to talk to Charlee. "How old are you Charlee?"

She hesitated, holding up her hand, five fingers uncurling from the tight fist she had made. "Five." She mumbled, knees tightly up against her chest. Arms wrapped around her knees, she rocked slightly. Her face suddenly scrunched up as if she had just remembered. "Mommy? Not. here." Her brown eyes scurried around as far as they could go. Both Colby and David exchanged glances as the little girl buried her face.

"Charlee, we need your help." David put in one last attempt to try to coax her out of her place behind the couch. The way her small body was situated, looked uncomfortable and there was little room to move around.

It took a moment before she propped her chin on top of her knees and gazed up at him quizzically. "Help?"

David nodded back promptly. "That's right. We need your help to figure out what happened today." Immediately Charlee's body began to shake as she recoiled back even further shifting so her left shoulder was now touching the green couch, while her right was just grazing the wall.

"No. No. Nooooo. No." Charlee chanted quietly, rocking to comfort herself.

David stood up knowing that he was probably not going to get any further and exchanged a glance with Colby, thinking of his own inspiration. Colby however got to a conclusion before he did. "David, call Megan." He gestured over to him as David pulled his phone out from it's place on his hip and walked out of earshot.

Flipping open the phone, his finger quickly pushed the speed dial button and placed the receiver up to his ear. All the while, Charlee was gazing up at them curiosity slightly peaked to who Megan was.

"Reeves."

"Hey Megan, we found the little girl sitting on the porch of the neighbor who originally found Andrea. We're trying to get Charlee out from behind the couch but she seems pretty spooked and could end up being our main lead on this case."

"If we can place her in that house at the same time her mother was being shot, it's most possible that she saw it happen and might be able to fill in some of the blanks."

"Well that shouldn't be too hard. We already know from the next neighbor that her daughter and Charlee were talking on the phone just around the time that Andrea was upstairs being shot. We'll go take a look around the house and talk to the neighbor's daughter, Mikayla, as soon as we take Charlee to the hospital and then back over at the office. She might be more wiling to open up and talk to you than any of us."

"Don and I will be heading back soon, we're not getting much from any one of the neighbors. They're either not willing to open up, or they're not there. But why don't you put Charlee on and I'll see what I can do."

David nodded silently and walked back across the room, gesturing over to Colby as he covered the receiver with his hand before handing the phone over to Charlee. "I have somebody that wants to talk to you."

Her little lips pursed hesitantly as she put the phone up to her ear. She took a couple breaths before working up the courage to talk. "Hello?"

"Hi Charlee, my name is Megan. I hear that you're pretty scared right now--can you tell me what you're afraid of?"

Shrugging Charlee looked up carefully at them, inquiring in a quiet voice. "Where is my mommy? She okay?"

Megan formulated an answer between the fact that either Charlee had seen what had happened but didn't know whether her mommy was okay, or somehow she knew that her mother was now dead. "No, Charlee. I'm afraid your mommy is not okay."

Charlee took in two sobbing breaths as she tried to keep it together. "No? Where...is she? I want her." She ended sadly, sniffling and almost in tears.

"I know that you miss her, but right now we need to figure out what happened. And we need your help. Think you can do that for us?"

Rubbing the tears from her eyes, Charlee nodded. "I guess. Are you a officer?""

"I am. Do you know why I would want to talk to you?"

"Cause' you want to help? You find bad people?"

"I sure do. And so do my friends. The two people that are standing beside you are David and Colby. I need you to trust me and go with them, they're going to make sure that you're not hurt. I also hear that you've been sick and we're going to make sure that you're okay."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that If you go with my friends and make sure that you're okay, then you can come and visit."

"Promise?"

"I promise Charlee."

--

"David and Colby found Charlee standing on the porch of the neighbor's front steps. They're going to take her to the hospital to get checked out and make sure that she's not hurt and then they'll bring her back to the office and see what else we can find out."

"Have to admit. You were pretty good just now." He nodded, offering as they made their way back over to the car, both stepping in and buckling their seat belts. Slipping the key into the ignition he started the car and backed out of their parking space. "I can see why now you're considering motherhood."

"Really, it's been an on and off again moment." Megan admitted, "There were times where I never thought that I could get this close again; to finding someone to spend my life with."

"So you and Larry thinking about the next step?"

She smiled genuinely. "Actually he proposed to me last week." Turning her gaze to the window, her chin rested in the palm of her hand, then let her hands rest in her lap. "In the middle of the airport as he was about to board the plane. I would have loved to truly see the expression on my face when he proposed because I really wasn't expecting him to do it for at least another few months.

Don smiled, glancing down at her left ring finger, teasing briefly as he focused back on the road. "This is definitely one large leap for Fleinhardt. I mean he's taking my girl and running."

"Your girl? Now that I was never aware of." She raised her eyebrows, rolling her eyes teasingly back towards the window as she took in the passing scenery. "Really, have you ever considered getting your own girl?"

"I'm sure my father would be thrilled nonetheless if one of his son's at least settled. He's been hinting about grandchildren for at least the last decade of both mine and Charlie's lives. I would have thought eventually that he would get the point and stop asking."

"Ah, I don't think that's going to happen until you stop bringing home the girls and start showing him that you're serious about at least finding somebody to spend your life with."

"Yeah at least he'll be proud of one of his kids. Although you're not biologically inclined to be his, I know how much he cares about everybody on the team and would proud to know that at least one of us are moving forward." He half teased, while making a turn onto the highway.

Megan glanced over at the car beside them. "You know that he's be proud of you no matter what. At least you knew that he was proud for what you accomplished. He may not have liked some of your decisions but at least he respected what you were doing."

He glanced back towards the road, everything silent between them. "So besides getting engaged, everything worked out between you and your father?"

"Maybe as good as it'll ever be. I went back to New York, my father and I talked for the first time in ten years."

"Well that's definitely a start." Agreeing, they were back into familiar territory and etching closer towards their office building.

"So that dinner on Wednesday, what's on the menu?"

The corner of his lips etched in tight amusement as he shook his head, "I have no idea. I just know that Charlie is getting nowhere near the oven this time around, so we're definitely not having pancakes for dinner."

Megan smiled as they pulled into the office parking lot. As they were getting out she called back. "Good to know. Just make sure your father sticks with the cider for the celebration." Pulling to a stop, Don pulled the keys out of the ignition and sat back in his seat.

"Wait, cider? What am I missing here? I mean when does a person not drink champagne when there's a celebration?"

Stepping around the corner of the car, she waited to answer until they were walking side by side back to the office. "When that person finds herself expecting a child and would do anything to not to mess it up, even if either parent is not exactly ready to become a mother or a father. Larry and I, we've got a lot to talk about. I've been thinking a lot about it and I feel even if I haven't gotten use to the fact that I've been given another chance to carry another child inside of me, I can't help wondering this time if everything's going to work out."


	10. The Sun and The Moon

About a half an hour after hanging up the phone, and having the conversation with Don, Megan turned back to the files on her desk. Don was sitting as his desk working on the rest of his paperwork when Larry strayed into the office. Gazing over at Megan who still hadn't looked up, Don flipped a page in the file he was reviewing, Megan looked up. By the expression on Larry's face, it was in fact held tight with anticipation.

"Larry." Megan spoke as she closed the file. Her gaze connected with the clock on the wall as she turned towards Don. "I'm going to go take an early lunch. Let me know when Charlee Lucas arrives. If she was freaking out with just Colby and David in the room, she's quite traumatized enough that it could happen again." Don nodded, noting the situation that if Megan wasn't there by the time that Charlee arrived, the young girl might think that Megan had abandoned her, or tricked her to coming in to an unfamiliar place, unsure of what was going to happen.

Both Larry and Megan disappeared quickly out of the room. Once out of earshot and in the empty elevator he took her hand. "How was seeing your father again?"

"It was quite interesting to say the least. In his eyes I was just another disappointment of his wants and needs. Although he did manage to ask if I was seeing anyone." He shrugged as the gravitational pulled them down past the next floor. Larry had an expression of satisfaction. Megan half smiled; almost chuckled. A thought of Larry telling his father what had been on his mind for the past few years as well as what he deserved, was now in the picture, when his father had probably had no hope for him. "The call--Looking up at her expectantly he had a deep questioning look. Even though he already knew just by her expression.

"It's official that in almost nine months we'll be cradling a little baby in our arms." Megan looked up to see what he thought about the news. There was a certain fear instilled in his gaze. Whether it was the fact that he had just imagined himself holding a child--his child--in his arms, or that this was all slowly becoming more real. His hand was still grasping hers as he finally met her gaze and exhaled, eventually his expression morphed into a sudden calm fascination, then elated back into half-fear and another deep breath—as he had most assuredly taken all the information in at once.

However, Megan knew that she had yet to get that point; letting it all sink in, and as the years slipped by the maternal feeling was overcoming everything, even to the smallest degree. It had been long forgotten of what it had been like to feel a child constantly growing inside, or to hold one so small in your arms. And just when she felt the fear creeping in, she longed to know again what the feeling of holding her child in her arms would be like if she was granted the great joy.

Although she would yet to be convinced that her past wouldn't come back to haunt her. For most reasons she had this deep fear that she would lose this baby as well. "When did the doctor's office finally end up calling?" Larry's voice broke through her thoughts, more relieved because before he could really see that she had needed to know.

"Tricia called this morning around ten to break the news." She exhaled as the door of the elevator slid open. Megan's hand slipped easily into his as they continued to walk towards the entrance door of the building. "I told Don--I think it made more sense to why I'm choosing to leave, instead of staying."

He looked up, which deciphered into a thoughtful gaze as they walked across the room, filled with agents and law enforcement; security guards and a few other people going in and out of the building. "He seemed to take it rather well."

She smiled deviously; Larry stepped ahead and pushed open the doors. "Yeah, well I think I caught him a bit off guard. I don't think he expected those words to come out of my mouth, even if I didn't actually say the words." Taking their steps in stride, they seemed to blend into the crowd, just making their way towards the city life. "However I expected David and Colby to suspect as soon as word of action got out."

"Or perhaps they don't." He shrugged, almost in a suggestive measure. Megan narrowed her gaze toward him in inquiry. "Besides me, you've only told one other person, and the odds that either one of us would say something is positively lower then if something were to be said before we were ready to announce the life-changing experience we're going through."

"I think after we together, let this sink in, we can decide when to tell them. Besides I would like to see how many things they come up with before we tell them." Looking around, Larry pushed the walk button. "You thinking about the cafe across the street?"

He nodded once. "This might be the beginning where we clear our thoughts and make a plan." Crossing the street, he used the same manner as they reached the cafe, opening to the door first to let her get out of the sweltering heat.

"Just two?" The black haired waitress greeted at their sudden presence; gathering two menus into her hand and then led them to a table close to the back. A moment later they were seated, with their choice of drinks being ordered, and then they were alone again.

"I've been so caught up in the light of my father that I forgot to give you this." Reaching into his pocket, he slowly pulled out a blue velvet box and set it on the table. She just looked at him in amazement. "Now it's official."

"You mean it wasn't official before?" Megan raised her eyebrow in a teasing manner, "You know you didn't have to do this." her fingers popped open the lid. Inside their was a fitting silver ring with a diamond set on top, as well as small cut out of a gold star and moon sitting on either side of the band. "Can I?" He pointed out the ring already on her finger, before she could say anything.

Megan nodded, fascinated. Taking off the band as he took the ring out from the velvet box. As she took a better look there was a latch on either side; to which he carefully took the ring and placed it over the band, before putting the tiny latches in place. He then proceeded to turn the ring to the left side and snapped the gold moon into the etched design on the band; then turning to the right he proceeded to attach the star into place before gently holding her hand in his and placing the finalized ring back onto her left finger.

Observing the ring, she looked up at him, postively glowing in his eyes. "You had all of this planned out."

He shrugged happily. "Before we left LA. And although the thought never escaped me--from the moment I saw you, I knew you would always be the one I would spend the rest of my life with."

"Well I'm just as glad that you found me." Megan smirked, as from the corner of her eye she was still glowing as she took the box and placed it into her purse as the waitress came around the corner with their drinks. After she left, Megan shot him a look that radiated deep down into his soul. She took a sip of her sprite, and leaned in to share a quick kiss.

--

For the most part Charlee had been quiet, not a word as she sat in the back seat of the car, on the way back from the hospital. David who was driving, occasionally glanced in the mirror to see her gazing out the window; the latest motion included her small head resting against the back of the seat, eyes closed, body rocking back and forth with the motion of the car as they drove. The whole exam had worn her out, to the point of exhaustion. For the age she was at, she was, even in sleep-- grasping onto everything that she had left. Although the concept was there, her mother was dead, and her father could turn out to be a possible suspect, left her with nothing. And yet she was still holding onto one thing, somebody to save her.

And despite not being able to get another word from her, the look in her eyes was filled with torment and confusion; not much hope was left in her little soul as she temporarily gave into a fitful sleep, shortly escaping her fate; but not the images she had been subjected to. Both David and Colby hoped she would be able to talk to Megan alone.

Colby as well had been glancing back in the young girl's direction as she sat still in the back seat, the growing fits of movement were growing every minute. Both David and Colby exchanged glances, although the traffic of LA was growing in number. Thankfully the office wasn't too much further.

_"I wish you would have told me." Her daddy had yelled from the front room. Although his voice wasn't quite familiar, or one that she hadn't remembered hearing as much since he wasn't ever really around. "I deserve to see my daughter." Charlee had peered around the corner; her mother came into view, but Charlee stayed out of sight from her father._

_"After all you've done to this family, you really expect me to let you see your daughter."_

_"If you take her away and don't let me...then yes, I have a right to see her."_

_"I have custody of her Anthony. I was rewarded custody of her after you slapped me around. You remember when you came home a few many times drunk? You remember that day?--"_

_"Okay okay...where is she?"_

_"That's none of your business. She's probably over at the neighbor's house playing."_

_"You don't know where our daughter is?" That set a rage of fury, but then edged as he took a few steps, to which Charlee gave a silent gasp and stepped back; her heart pounding in her chest. "Charlee? Charlee come out sweetie it's daddy."_

_Silence was the only thing he heard, tempting him to take another few steps and perhaps take a look around. Andrea knew what he planned to do, and her words stopped him in a cold tone. "She's not going to answer you. What makes you think that she would come out for you anyway?"_

_"I'm her father--" Reassured that her father wasn't coming after her, Charlee took a brave step forward, leaning against the wall._

_"The father that was never around, the same father that saw you slapping me senseless. She loves you Anthony but you scare her some times. You scare us both, and I think it would be best if you left."_

_"I want to make things right." Anthony practically pleaded as Charlee rounded the corner, but stayed hidden._

_"We need you to go. Right now she just needs time. Give her time to think about it and then we can work things out. If you move too quickly she's not going to want to do this."_

_Charlee peered up at her father, watched him reach into his jacket and pull out a gun. "I'm afraid I can't do that. You know as well as me that if I leave, you're going to take Charlee and move again." Cocking the gun and in one swift motion, he had the gun moving up towards Andrea's head. "I need her."_

_"And you don't think that I don't? You lost your chance." Andrea stood firmly before wrestling the gun in his hand; twisting it, the gun waving back and forth in the struggle. Everything in that time almost seemed like a blur as Charlee moved closer. It seemed like she was a little too late when the gun went off in his hand. Charlee stood still, out in the open, far enough from her father as her face screwed up, tears swelling in her eyes as she watched her mother fall against the wall and slid down like a limp doll._

_"Charlee." He sound relieved but still shocked as he had promised himself that he would never do another thing to hurt her._

_Without thinking Charlee yelled, "I hate you!" at him because she knew by the blood spilling out from the gunshot that was still ringing in her ears, that her mother was dead. Her father had killed her mother, and at such a young age, she had no pity for him. It was all the same. She was hurting so much that she wanted to scream--everything--at the top of her lungs. He took a few steps forward and she cocked her head in such a manner that he had never seen from her. She was grinding her teeth, anger flowing from every part of her, the closer he got to her. And she made it known. "I. Hate. You." The tone in her voice escalated with every word out of her mouth. She stepped back, farther from his reach._

_"Charlee--I'm sorry." He looked back over at Andrea, his voice wavering. "I didn't mean to."_

_The young girl didn't looked convinced as she scrutinized the picture. "Leave me alone! I hate you." He looked back over at Andrea, only for a split second before he realized his daughter was now running towards the back door, as he rushed after her, she gazed back to see the gun still in his hand as she slammed the back door harder than she have ever done before, enough that as she ran down the steps, the only thing she heard was a shatter of glass._

The echo of glass shattering, most definitely stirred Charlee from sleep. Her body lurched forward, pulling on the seatbelt in the car; her eyes widened like silver dollars as she gasped for air.


	11. A Thousand Words

Colby gazed back in alarm at the gasping sound in the backseat. Even if her eyes had been open momentarily, they were now shut tightly; her body continually pulled against the seat belt. He unbuckled his own seat belt and carefully climbed over the seat, while David finally found a spot to pull in--which happened to be a empty parking lot of a school, before he stepped out and flung open the door to help. "Charlee, it's Colby, open your eyes if you hear me." Both waited for response, as Colby grunted and released her seat belt and David help steady her. Finally they both felt a gasp as Charlee sat up, relieved. She gazed up at both of them, still trying to catch her breath.

"Please don't let him hurt me." As she shook her head and trembled, Colby had lifted her out of the car and was holding her tightly. "Please." She whimpered, her voice growing softer.

"Nobody is going to hurt you." David soothed, taking a step forward and sat on the edge of the car floor, just a few feet from them. Sniffling, she sat back in her seat.

"He had a gun." She confirmed their suspicions, even if they knew the suspect had one, why didn't he shoot her too? "I...I...slammed the door, but he was still there."

"Charlee if you know who killed your mommy, you could be helping us a lot right now." Colby chimed in, already making a mental to have the area surrounding the back door and stairs to be checked again. And any information she had could fill in a bigger picture. "Did you get a good look at him?"

She nodded, tight-lipped. Even if she was still mad at her father, it was hard to announce to the world--especially in this kind of situation, that it was her father. "I can't." Bowing her head, she buried her head into her hands. In one instance she wondered how much time had gone by, and with uncertainty she wondered what would happen next...and if these people could help her and if she could help them.

--

After lunch, Larry returned her back to the office. During that time they had together, addressed more fears, when they should announce the engagement, as well as that they were expecting; a house, and what was going to happen next. It wasn't all set in stone yet but it was out in the open. The puzzle pieces were slowly being fit into place, one by one. As for the engagement they both agreed that Wednesday would be the best time to announce when everybody was together for the Eppe's dinner. That way everything would be clear and out in the open.

"Hey Don." Megan looked around, the office was a little more filled than when she had been in here earlier this morning, but there were still two people missing. "I thought David and Colby would have already been here with Charlee."

"Yeah, well I was just thinking the same thing." He looked at his watch. "Colby called just about five minutes before we found out that the bullet in Andrea Lucas' head is from a 22. caliber." She gazed at her own watch and sat down in her chair. "How was your lunch?"

"It went pretty good--if you count talking about an engagement, a kid and a house." She summed up the conversation up, all in a nutshell.

Raising his eyebrow, and letting out a low whistle, it was easy to get the point that she was making. That was a lot to think about, and to take on all at the same time. "But the point is that you talked about it and--"

"And we're planning to announce it all on Wednesday. It will definitely clear the air, which will also explain my decision for leaving the Bureau."

Don's expression fell slightly for a moment. That was one matter that he had been thinking about the last few days. "It makes perfect sense now."

The elevator opened, revealing David and Colby. "Exactly my point. I was already sure that before I announced anything that it wouldn't be kept for long." Scratching her head, she kept one eye on Colby, David and then Charlee as they got closer. "Granger is already highly suspicious."

She shot him a conspicuous smirk as David, Colby and Charlee rounded the corner. it was a different setting than she what she had been imagining; Charlee was still hanging on tightly, with her arms around Colby's neck. He in turn granted her with a don't ask kind of look and went on introducing her and Don. "Charlee, this is Don.. And this," he turned to the side so she could see him. "Is Megan. You talked to her on the phone earlier."

"Hi Charlee." Don spoke up with a friendly grin. She glanced over at Megan with a hesitant glance as if she was asking who exactly he was.

Megan gestured over to Don. "Hi. You going to help my mommy?" She asked him, climbing down and standing.

"You bet I am. You have my word that we're going to do everything we can to help." Charlee nodded firmly, then gazed back over at Megan as she stepped forward. And for a moment Charlee observed in amazement at Megan's form. Her beautiful green eyes were captivating, and she was so tall; definitely beautiful.

"Come on Charlee. I'll show you were the snacks are and our really cool couch where we sit." Megan prompted, bringing Charlee out of her gaze.

"I love snacks." The little girl perked up, her little voice suddenly filled with light as she followed Megan into the break room, which left David, Don and Colby to talk about the case.

Don pointed towards Charlee's retreating form, turning the screen monitor where the information was in view. "Get any information from the neighbor that could help us out?" Turning the screen towards them, he sat back in his chair. "Megan and I were narrowing down suspects when you came in with Charlee." All three of them read the information. "With what we have narrowed the search to at least five remaining suspects that match the motive to our crime--because there are no suspects with the last name of Lucas, Megan and I have already checked that out."

"So if Andrea and Charlee aren't who they say they are we need to try to find out who they are and what he was going for." David paused momentarily, recollecting information. "In the car Charlee did mention that she didn't want the man coming after her and that he had a gun."

"She also mentioned that she had slammed the door, which probably stopped the person from coming after her after her mother had been shot." Colby chimed in, leaning against the side of the desk.

"That would explain the broken sliding door, and glass all over at the crime scene." Don added into the conversation as they bounced off motives. Most always something this way came to mind; sparked an idea that would lead them further, because right now what they had wasn't enough to go on.

--

Charlee happily munched on her snack, momentarily forgetting why she was sitting here. Every few minutes she would take a few bites and look up at Megan, kicking her feet back and forth softly as she sat on the couch, while Megan waited patiently, gave her time. Actually it was sad really, to have to open the wound--and not often did the team involve children. Usually what they saw were adults, and saw the children in the background, innocently playing; usually not knowing yet that their father, uncle, or mother had committed a crime or was deceased. Usually it was the children who knew last about the offense... not first hand.

Dusting the crumbs off of her hands, Charlee sat back and let out a satisfied sigh. The quiet atmosphere itself brought back the thought of the situation, but once again it dissipated as a pair of piercing green eyes observed her; and those piercing eyes to Charlee were still just as dazzling as the moment that she had walked into the unfamiliar building. Kicking her small feet a couple more times in a nervous measure, she took a deep breath, catching Megan's attention in the process, and decided with an exhale to breaking the silence.

"It's bad" Charlee mumbled, possibly to no one in particular and looked up at the ceiling, almost afraid of what she would see in Megan's expression. Besides the death of her mother, things hadn't quite sunk in. Mainly she went back and forth from shock to numbness, and right now she was blocking it out. "Isn't it?" Her voice was suddenly so small, no longer confident.

Megan set her cup down on the counter; the opposite of euphoria was settling in. Charlee's expression fell, yet held a level of anticipation as she scooted over to make room for Megan to sit beside her. "Some times things are out of our hands and there is no longer anything that we can do to make it better . No band aid will cover what has been taken from us, and no patch can keep us from seeing the good and the bad."


	12. Closer

**I did make some adjustments to this chapter. Not much has changed besides the added talk between David and Megan. **

Charlee's face scrunched up in thought, then took on an almost hurt expression. "But they were fighting." She released, scooting back even more against the back of the couch.

Megan cocked her head to the side. "Who was fighting?"

Charlee hesitated momentarily, then remembered who she was talking to. "My mom and dad."

"Your mom and dad were fighting." She asked her, to make sure she was getting this down.

In response, Charlee nodded sadly. "They were fighting."

"Can you remember what they were fighting about?"

Staring into the distance, her eyes wandered to Megan's. "Me." Her eyes glossed over, the wetness quickly disappearing. "I thought I was doing something wrong." Charlee bowed her head and in turn Megan wanted to do something to comfort her, but she stayed in her place on the couch, waiting for the right time to place the comfort; a few feet on the couch was between them. Scooting forward, Megan caught Charlee's attention. Her hand gently sat on the the young girl's knee.

Megan's eyebrow creased in concern; the young girl's head bowed, fear in her expression that was masking the sadness. Gently raising her chin by gently pressing upwards with her fingers in a loving gesture. "You're not to blame for this Charlee. Your daddy made a choice...a wrong one and now he needs to understand what he did was wrong."

"Like a time out?" An awkward satisfaction narrowed in Charlee's expression, a yawn emitted as she covered her small hand over her mouth.

Megan nodded. "Something like it." Okay so not exactly, but in irony, it was. Grabbing the blanket that was draped over the middle of the couch, she laid it over Charlee's small body. Silence fell over them--Charlee had leaned her head back against the back of the couch, eyes closed tightly. Standing Megan stretched as she walked across the room to the counter where her cup was sitting. One more sip and she poured the clear liquid out of her cup; the strong smell of coffee was tempting but she walked out of the break room without looking back.

At least almost...

"Megan?" Charlee's sleepy voice broke through the silence. "Where are you going?"

Charlee's eyes were wide open; gazing at Megan with an inquiry of sadness. "I was going to go back to my desk to do some work for a little while."

"Oh. Then are you going home?" Charlee asked out of the blue, blinking out the momentary sleepiness.

Megan could sense a question of abandonment, a grasping of familiarity that couldn't be lost. "It will be awhile before I go home." Her lips parted a sly smile. It wouldn't be long that Don would try to send her home after she had told him of her pregnancy. Thankfully right now he was kept occupied with the case.

Charlee's eyes searched Megan's, until they settled upon the hope that had just been given to her. "Aren't you tired?" Clearly reflecting that she saw the truth already, her eyes closed; still anticipating the answer. Megan nodded in admittance as she ran her hand through her hair and walked back over to the couch as Charlee showed an expresision of frustration that changed the subject of the conversation. "Do you think mommy is safe now?"

Furrowing her eyebrow momentarily, Megan sat down on the couch next to Charlee. "I'm sure she loved you. And I'm so sure that she'll never regret protecting you."

The young girl yawned again and laid her head down on the arm of the couch. "Promise?"

"I promise." Megan couldn't hold back as she brushed her fingers through Charlee's hair. The little girl closed her eyes, snuggling in more. "Get some rest." she whispered in effort not wake her, and stood. Leaving the room, Megan shut the door and walked back to her desk.

David looked up from where he had been sitting; a mix of curiousity showed as she sat down. "You look like you're about to crash." Absently she rubbed her forehead and shook off the sleepiness that she had been feeling.

"Yeah well the day is just beginning and I don't have time to crash." She offered him almost a humorous half smile as much as she could muster.

He offered a laugh, "Yeah, well--" rubbed the back of his neck and pushed back from his desk. "You know us, well oiled machines." his teasing brought them some laughter, but ended quicker than the two of them would have liked. It turned out that he had a question in his mind that had cut the happiness short. "You know, I should have said this sooner but when Colby was in trouble, you mentioned something to Don and I about it not being fair that we had been keeping everything inside. And you know one of the reasons of being a team is to share that wealth of information even if it kills us." Exhaling he raised his hand in thought. "It's like we're never on the same beat anymore, playing shots at our own game--you know."

"I know." She confirmed finally speaking, quietly and understanding. "But a part of taking a shot at your own game is knowing the risks that you're taking."

And after the hour had passed since she had the conversation with David, she finally allowed herself to breathe. She had been alone for the past half hour and had buried herself in the remaining paperwork she had to finish. Don, David and Colby had been combing over the crime scene; finally after about twenty minutes after they had started they had received word that the prints found at the crime scene belonged to Antonio Harrison; his record showing that he had been arrested once before on one count of abuse. From the looks of it you would think that he had served enough time for the crime, so why commit another?

At that information the team took off. Megan stayed behind having the right circumstances to staying behind with Charlee still fast asleep in the break room. Already it was a quarter to two and there had been no sign of her waking, or an anticipated call from Dr. Meyer's. It had been awhile since Megan herself had been awake but the day had already taken twists and turns that made her not feel quite up to speed. Already the life that was growing inside of her was a blessing in disguise.


	13. Between The Lines

By the time five o'clock had rolled around, Megan was exhausted. Charlee had been up for a little while and they had talked more until Don David and Colby returned. It turned out that a short raid on Antonio's house, come to find out there had been no recent activity that Antonio himself had been around. They had checked the garage, it being empty. A search on his car had been put out on alert but so far nothing had come up. No weapon, leads or information, besides what information Charlee had given them had been announced and they found themselves at their desks again, except that Charlee was now sitting in a chair in the middle of the cubicles, lightly touching her fingers to the desk and spinning the chair back and forth.

Don pulled up a chair beside her to go over phone records from both Antonio and Andrea. In the process he had looked up several times after scanning the list while she had been looking up information; there was one particular phone number that showed up more than any of them. When looked up in the phone directory it showed the resident's name, 'Joe & Susain Carlos'. He eventually took David with him to go check out the lead, but not before telling Megan to go home and get some sleep.

Of course he had to know that she was just as hard headed as he was, so he threw in. "I've held back DCFS to give us more time. They should be coming around tomorrow morning around eleven." Looking as his watch he walked towards the elevator.

"And you were thinking about me taking Charlee?" Megan turned around in her chair as she pulled off her glasses; clearly aware that Charlee was sitting just a few feet from them. She gave Don a side glance, turning her chair to the side. "You still thinking that he's going to come back for her?" Megan lowered her voice.

"It's possible. He came for her and left without what he wanted. So why kill somebody in the first place if you're going for something you want?" Placing her hand on her side, she knew that look. It was the same expression that mirrored avenge. Crime against children was hard enough, and none of them would let a child be in harms way if it could be avoided. Antonio Harrison was out there somewhere and right now his exact intentions were unknown, besides that there was a chance that he was going to come after Charlee next. The feeling was general in the atmosphere, how he could, they didn't know. Maybe they were taking extra precautions, breaking the rules, but in some way Charlee was already starting to change their lives for the better.

The same question that they were thinking about had most likely ran through Andrea Lucas' mind, every day. Even though she had known that Antonio had been in jail he had probably haunted Andrea and Charlee for years before--not to mention, put a child in the middle of all this and now he has something to use against her for years to come. A mother such as Andrea would willingly and knowingly protect her young and held the opportunity to escape.

Megan exhaled in resignation, understanding. She took a step forward towards Charlee, her hand lightly touched the top of the chair. "Come on Charlee, you're coming home with me tonight."

"I am?" A thrill ran through Charlee as she tucked her legs underneath her, then stood from the chair. "But where do you live?"

Megan laughed. "I live at my house."

"Oh."

David asked her as she peered up at him. "What do you think about that Charlee?"

She twisted her lips into a thoughtful expression. "I guess I'll take that offer."

David smiled. "Who taught you to talk so smart? I don't think I could talk like this when I was her age." Don and David exchange glances as he pointed over at Charlie still with a grin. "Could you?" To each he offered the question; to both Colby and Megan. Each shook their heads.

Don shook his head. "I doubt it. Although I think my dad would secretly do anything to get back those years." Charlee grinned from ear to ear, watching them play off each other. She watched them with fascination. She no longer looked scared, but momentarily at ease, something they could hold onto. Charlee had always been taught 'no matter what you've lost, you hold on to what you've got now.' and 'Always have a good attitude and show the world what you've got by speaking out.' Something she had learned at such a young age.

Charlee giggled. "Mommy taught me." She looked up at them thoughfully. "To be lady-like?"

"Lady-like?" Don acted surprised. "Well in the case, lead the way Lady Charlee. We'll make sure you get to your car in safety."

--

"Here we are." Megan announced as they stopped in front of her house, almost an hour later.

"This is your house?" Charlee asked trying to unbuckle her seatbelt. Megan unbuckled her own seatbelt and then came around to help Charlee get out.

The outside of the house was surrounded with red brick; the roof a light brown. Around the perimeter of the house was two garden areas filled with all colors of flowers.

"Look at all the flowers." Charlee pointed out happily as they walked up to her door. "I never had flowers at my house. Daddy didn't like them."

Megan looked down at her. "Not everybody likes them. Come on I want to show you something." They made their way into the house and Megan shut the door behind them, cautiously looking behind her before locking up the door again. "You hungry?"

Charlee shook her head in response, "No." as Megan dug through a drawer and pulled out a photo album.

Sitting on the couch, Megan patted the seat beside her and set the album in her lap. Hesitantly Charlee sat beside her, not sure what to expect. "You know when I was your age I secretly wanted to be a ballerina."

Wrinkling her nose, Charlee gazed up at her and then focused back on the page Megan was turning to. "A ballerina? I have a barbie that I dress up as a ballerina."

"Really. You are a very lucky girl. I would never play with barbies but instead I would have rather been a ballerina playing football."

"Sports."

Megan smiled kindly. "More than you know." Brushing her hand over Charlee's nose, the little girl giggled. The laughter died down as her eyes glued to the page of a little girl in a pink ballerina tutu.

Charlee had to take a double look, back from the page back to Megan. "You?"

"Yeah. I was just a little older than you when this picture had been taken. I had been in a recital and my dad hadn't been there. My mom had the idea to take my picture afterward. So I found a nice frame to put it in and gave it to him as a gift for his birthday. Only I wasn't sure that he had liked the picture--he meant well but we didn't always see eye to eye."

"Eye to eye?"

"It just means that we didn't always get along. We fought a lot."

"Oh" Charlee bowed her head. "My daddy wasn't nice either."

That's the second time she had mentioned that. "Charlee, I read the reports, you were there weren't you...when your dad hit your mom. Did he do anything that made you not feel right at any time when you were around?" The young girl immediately shook her head, then rethought the gesture.

"He use to play with me." She motioned and sat back, playing with her fingers. "Then he met some not so nice people. All they wanted was money all the time."

"Money." Megan confirmed, raising her eyebrow. "Was he selling something that he wasn't suppose to?"

"I don't know." The young girl shrugged, "He was no fun any more. I don't ever get to go home do I?"

Megan knew exactly what she was asking by the look in her eyes. "No Charlee, I don't think home is an option right now."


	14. Fuzzy Blue Lights

Charlee shook her head, nodding. "So where do I go?"

Letting her head lean up against the palm of her hand, Megan answered. "If you have family, you'll most likely go to the next closest relative."

Jutting out her lip, Charlee's expression changed to sadness. "Oh. I like it here." She looked around and then back at Megan.

Quietly Megan smiled softly, closing the album she sat up as Charlee reached her small hand out to her. "Charlee do you know why I showed you this?" She held up the album and then placed it on her coffee table before taking her small hand in hers. The young girl just shook her head in confusion. "Because things that happen to us don't always feel right. They are things that we don't want to do but we have to."

Charlee took her words into consideration, "I wish I could just stay here with you." She looked up her longingly then curled her body on the couch, suddenly fatigued.

Megan smiled, scooting closer. "As much as I would like that, I don't think I could."

"Why? Because you're alone?"

"No Charlee, I'm not alone." Megan thought about how to proceed to explain. "Because I'm helping your family and even if I tried, it would take a very long time to have you. Even then I'm not sure that I would get the chance to have you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"You have a boyfriend?" She piped up.

Megan could only laugh. "Yes. Fiancee actually."

It got quiet between them. Charlee's eyes gazed down at her finger and you could hear a small gasp. "That wasn't there before."

"I take it off when I'm at work."

There was a slight pause again as Charlee thought about the question Megan had posed earlier. She wants me, but can't. "Megan, what if I don't have family?"

"Then you go into a foster home." Megan answered softly. "Until someone can adopt you."

Charlee's expression became thoughtful, then saddened as she curled her legs tighter. She laid her head down back on the arm rest. "I'm tired now. I'm going to sleep." She added blinking ahead, not looking at her, and then quickly shut her eyes.

Megan got the picture, this little girl had a lot to think about. She stood from the couch, grabbing a blanket from out of the closet she draped it over Charlee's body. "Sweet dreams angel." she called out before walking into the kitchen and shutting the door.

--

Grabbing her cell phone from her purse, she pushed the second number on her speed dial. "Eppes." She heard the familiar clarity of his voice.

"Hey Don," Megan greeted, looking around her kitchen before opening the refrigerator and grabbing something to eat. "I'm thinking Antonio Harrison has more on his plate then just murder. He's also got some money deals as well. So maybe besides grabbing Charlee, perhaps Andrea knew what he was doing as well."

"Yeah, maybe. We're still looking around his house. We found some number that matches the phone records on a piece of paper found in his desk. We're running a match on the number but so far not much is coming up in regards to who lives there or who he was talking to."

"Sounds like they didn't want to be found."

"Or they could be just as guilty as the person we're looking for." Megan suggested opening the package of meat.

"Well this place looks pretty clean. It wasn't hard to track Antonio down since he was already on record."

"Let me know what happens, either way. I have a little girl asleep in my living room who realizes that she's never going to go home."

There was a shift of the phone, "Okay. How are you holding up?"

"Just making myself a sandwich, might settle for reading a book eventually and leave fighting the crime for somebody else for once."

"Yeah well I know if Charlee hadn't been in the room, I might have had to drag you out in handcuffs."

Megan raised her eyebrow, making her point. "And you're any better?"

There was a slight chuckle. "Look I'll call later and give an update on whatever we find. Get some rest, that's why I sent you home."

"That's what I thought." She smiled knowing that he wasn't about to admit anything, but the image in her mind of threatening to drag him out in handcuffs was flowing through loud and clear. In fact she was sure it would take a lot off the shoulders of Alan and Charlie, who constantly worried about him if she did. That's not to say that she wouldn't one day.

--

"Who were you talking to?" Charlee's voice came quietly as she stepped into the kitchen making Megan turn abruptly as she closed her phone and set it with a clatter onto the counter.

"That was my boss."

Charlee stepped in further, leaning against the fridge. "Who called who?"

"I called him Charlee. I told him about some things that I thought he should know--things that might help us find your dad."

She got a scared look on her face. "Why am I really here and not with D..?" Charlee paused, frozen. "He's out there."

"DCSF." Megan finished, looking out the direction of the window; scanning the premises, listening for anything that was unnatural or any sound that shouldn't be there. When everything was cleared, Megan turned her attention back to Charlee.

"Yes, he's out there--somewhere he's out there, but we wanted you to feel safe. Everything you tell us now could help us get closer to finding him."

The fear dissipated momentarily. "It does? But if I leave...what if he finds me?"

Megan nodded firmly, bringing her over to the table and sat her down before taking her own seat. "Charlee there's nothing more important that we want to keep you safe. We're going to find him, and as hard as it sounds you're going to be able to start over and he's going to be in jail for a very long time."

"So he can't hurt me?"

"No. And I'll tell you what-- if you're ever in trouble and need someone, you just say the code word and I'll be there."

"Really?"

"Really. You just let me know what it is when you figure it out. It will be just between you and me."

Charlee hesitated, her smile fading slightly. "But...what can I use?"

Megan put her hand on Charlee's small head "You'll know it when the time is right. Now who's hungry? I make a wicked turkey and cheese sandwich."

Shrugging in her chair, Charlee gave her a short smile. "I guess. That sounds good."

--

"How are Megan and Charlee?" Don looked up as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. David was walking towards him, notebook in hand; scanning the premises.

"I think they're settling in for the night. What did you get on the number, anything?" Don asked, hoping this would further the case.

"This one?" David smirked holding up his notebook with a name scrawled on it. Don began to move towards his vehicle.

He exhaled deeply, as David tore off the piece of paper and handed it to him. "Great. Megan mentioned that Antonio was in some money deal. " Don spoke enthusiastically, digging in his pocket for his keys. "I am going to go see what I can find out." David pointed to the house. Don answered his unspoken question. "You and Colby can finish up here and meet me over there. Maybe we can grab some dinner afterwards."

"Sounds good." David was taking back steps towards the house. "Wait, you buying?"

"I never said I was buying." Unlocking the car, Don held his keys tightly in his hand. "Just remember that we have a date with the ME afterwards. We'll see if there is anything she can tell us about Andrea Lucas." He gestured with a nod.

"Will do." David watched as interest as Don closed the door to the car and tore from out of view.

--

Approaching Colby who was going through a stack of papers. "There's got to be something that I'm not getting here."

"What are we talking about here?" Colby took a swipe at his forehead. "The crime scene or Antonio Harrison suddenly accidently shooting his estranged wife in the head?"

David just shook his head. "Neither. I'm talking about how whenever Megan is mentioned Don feels the need to change the subject."

"Ah." Pulling out a piece of paper from the stack, Colby's eyes scanned the wording. "Well this should be of some help. It looks likes Antonio Harrison was in for some money deal."

"Yeah, Don briefly mentioned Megan saying that Antonio was involved in something like that. He told us to meet him over there and then get together for dinner."

Colby looked over at him. "Why? Is he buying?"

David shrugged with a half smirk. "That's exactly what I asked, and he said he never mentioned buying."

"Makes me wonder what's up his sleeve." Silence, evaded as he sealed the paper in a clear evidence bag. "You know you can just call her if you're still wondering."

"Even you know that she wouldn't tell us." David gave him a knowing look.

"Yeah well it was worth the suggestion." Colby shook the bag slightly, "Maybe we can use what we just found to the best of our ability." They exchanged glances with a nod and headed out towards the car.


	15. Money, Money

Tuesday however happened to roll around too quickly.

"Can I have a ponytail like yours?" Charlee asked that morning as they were getting ready for the day. Although Megan had decided on scrunching her own hair today and putting it up in a regular ponytail. It was something new, in addition to the slight glow in her expression.

"You sure can. Come take a seat." As Charlee sat down, Megan grabbed an extra hair tie from off the dresser and began gathering her dark brown into hand. There was silence between both; absently Megan ran her fingers through the young girl's hair. It was so soft and made Megan think back to when she was a child with her own mother. With her legs folded indian style, Megan sat on the bed; almost similiar to the way Charlee was sitting now. Megan smiled briefly and wrapped her hair into a high ponytail, pulling tight at the end.

"How do I look?" Charlee asked moments after she had finished. When Megan didn't answer, Charlee turned around and stood on the bed and wrapped her arms around her neck, gazing up. "We look pretty."

Megan smiled brightly, wrapping her arms around Charlee's small waist. "We sure do. Now what do you say we go out and have some breakfast before we go out and greet the world?" Charlee nodded enthusiastically, unwrapping her hands from her neck and hopped off the bed.

--

Don looked at his watch, it was already a quarter to ten. Somebody from DCSF would be here in about an hour, and yet he was unsure why he had called. It was the law? The person who had been holding the will had clearly told him that besides her parents, that was all Charlee had, and what she had lost. There was no other family, and it seemed like going into the foster system was the only way that Charlee would survive now, but even Don could understand how scared this little girl had been when she had come in. But from the moment she had laid eyes on Megan it was like even though she was scared, there was a strong connection that built around her and kept her strong when Megan was around.

It usually took longer to get close to someone, even if you know on the first day that there's something there. Okay, so they weren't actually suppose to get close to their victims, and basically Charlee was a victim of seeing her mother being shot while seeing her father do the dirty deed, but how much did Charlee deserve to be shifted to place after place, after it had been all said and done? It might be what the team does ninety-nine percent of the time after a child had been involved in the middle and doesn't have any family to support them, but for some reason Charlee was different. He couldn't put his finger on it--but it like there was a purpose for her being here for a reason that nobody else knew until it was revealed.

Sitting up in his chair, he groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face. In all the years that he had been in the FBI he would never think that he would be thinking about this. Charlee was dealing in her own way, not yet realizing that this was life-changing in it's own terms. She had no family, there would be nobody that she could wrap her arms around, but could Megan be the one to fulfill the hole? As much as he felt the sense of everything was rolling in her way at this time, he also knew that Megan had a maternal instinct in her. Although he didn't know exactly how she would take on bringing up somebody else's child as hers, this was the closest that he had seen of the maternal instinct, yet.

And Larry...he sounded like he was taking things pretty well so far. At least what you could see on the surface--although there was no knowing how much Megan had discussed about this. A new house, engagement, marriage, and a kid all at once was already a lot to take in. Don didn't need much to see how much it took to go down hill, in fact he knew the feeling even if half the time he didn't impress on the same feeling that his father and brother always tended to express to him. Like he already knew by the mirrored look that he should take the time to slow down. Although he knew by what was being thrown to Megan and Larry, you can't dodge what is already there. That was the motto he stood by--and then some.

"Everything good in wonderland?" David asked out loud, upon seeing Don sitting there; the screen black, his boss' fingers curled on the keyboard, one hand laying beside the keyboard. Blinking, Don exhaled deeply, almost in thought. David shook his head as he read the response in his eyes. " We haven't found anything that we didn't know already." Perched on the side of Don's desk, he waited for any reaction. There wasn't any. "You thinking about changing your mind on social services?"

That got a reaction. Don sat up in his chair, leaning forward. "I'm not sure how much longer we can stall them. If Anthony was thinking he could get away with not comitting murder, it sure looks like he was. Besides him forgetting one key witness."

"Charlee. So what stops him from going after her if we give her up?" David inquired--knowing they had already gone through the information--with a grim expression on the edge of his pressed lips.

"That's the problem, we don't." David could see the wheel's turning in his boss' mind, each part clicking over the word 'if'--the possibilities--his earlier thoughts were sounding better every minute; even if there was no initial threat, he couldn't ignore the heat rolling through his veins in warning.

"And all Colby and I could get from Anthony's next door neighbors was that when Andrea and Charlee disappeared, Anthony got less social, wasn't around as much thanks to the key-off of the almost full mailbox. The box would be almost full, then one day out of the blue he would return and take all of his mail inside. They also said that an unidentified female that they had never seen around--except once or twice--would come around to take the mail inside, same as him--through the front door. Although there was no mail when we searched through the house earlier."

"What could this guy possibly be expecting in the mail that none would be left behind?" Don scrutinized, brow furrowing.

"Mail that he had no intention on anybody else finding." Colby chimed in, joining them.

--

Looking around the place, Charlee gazed at the pictures lining the wall of the cafe with fascination. Her hand was holding Megan's as a waitress with a peach dress shirt greeted them with a slight twange. "Just two?" Megan nodded, the waitress gathered up two menus; one big, the other a smaller menu with a coloring page, and a small pack of crayons. They followed her to a back table and then sat down promptly as the waitress laid out their menus in front of them.

"Thank you." Megan thanked her for both of them, while catching her silver name tag--Landa. Charlee kicked her legs in an occupying manner, grabbing the box of crayons, then looked up. This was the first time she had caught how pretty Landa really was. Short brown hair with streaks of gray, cut to her neck. Black rimmed glasses, accenting her dark brown eyes.

"Can I get you ladies something to drink?" Landa asked kindly. Charlee exchanged a glance with Megan.

"What's your favorite thing to drink?"

"Mmm...water, please." Charlee answered quietly and went back to coloring.

Turning back to Landa, Megan gave her drink order. "I'll also have a water." Half of her focus was on Charlee, who had her arm resting on the table, chin resting against it as she focused on filling the picture with color.

"Alright I'll be back in just a few minutes with your drinks."

"Thank you." And with that Landa retreated back behind the counter, exchanging a chuckle with the man at the cash register, her hand brushing across his shoulder. Megan turned back to Charlee who stared at the paper, the crayon waving back and forth as she colored; her lips pressed tightly together in a concentrated matter.

"Mmm..." The tip of the crayon was touching Charlee's chin when Megan gazed back at her. "What color should I do her hair?"

Looking over the colors spread on table were green, blue, red and orange. It was either going to be red..or red, it was. "How about red?"

"Will she look pretty too?"

Both of them looked back down at the almost colorless picture, except for the bike with the basket that had already been colored. "She sure will."

"Red hair...like Ariel." Charlee put the two facts together, smiling. "Good." And with that she went back to coloring until Landa brought back the drinks and set them down on the table. Remembering, Charlee looked over the kid's menu on the paper. She realized that she still couldn't really read and there were no pictures to back up something that she could point to, so she turned to Megan for help.

"What do you think you're up for?" Megan inquired, to which Charlee shrugged. "Ever tried crepes before?"

Charlee shook her head silently, dropping her crayon on the table. "What's that?"

"It's almost like a pancake, but these have strawberries, or some kind of fruit in them." At that moment Megan's stomach grumbled.

"Can't forget the whip cream." Landa threw in. Most times kids would go for the whip cream.

Charlee giggled at Megan, eyes lighting up. "You're hungry."

"I sure am. What do you think?" She looked up at Landa who was waiting patiently holding a pen up to her notebook.

"Okay." Charlee nodded, watching Landa as she wrote down the order.

"Alright...two crepes, coming right up." Landa spoke up in a cheerful tone. "Anything else I can get you?"

Megan and Charlee exchanged a glance to which Charlee gladly piped up. "Nope."

All three of them smiled as Megan handed her menu back to Landa. "Then I guess I will be back with your crepes in just a few minutes."

--

"Something tells me that it's not just the mail that's missing. Did anybody else notice how clean the place looked?" David inquired, sitting down in his own chair.

"No single mom that I've known with a child or even two had that clean of a house." Colby added in, leaning against his desk.

"Or that much furniture." Don placed into perspective. "Andrea sure couldn't have counted on Antonio for money support if she was playing, keep away."

Both David and Colby nodded. "Then the question we ask here is, where is she getting all the money?"

--

"What do you think?" Charlee asked a few minutes later after her picture was finished.

"Very good." Commenting, she smiled at the pretty red haired person. "I really like her."

"I really like her too."

At that moment of their conversation, Landa returned with their food. It smelled heavenly.

"Mmm..." Charlee said, mouth watering as the waitress set her plate in front of her first and then Megan's. "Thanks."

"You're welcome darling. Enjoy your food." Landa smiled, turning the invitation to both of them and then left them with their food.

"One..." Happily Charlee picked up her fork. "Two..." cutting a piece off she tentatively forked it. "Three." And stuck the piece in her mouth, chewing carefully placing the texture and taste into memory. Once she was finished she spoke. "Delicious."


	16. Perfect Scene

"So much for him being in some conspicuous act" David added sarcastically.

"Yeah...except for the fact that we have a witness, a phone number, a mysterious blond, and nobody home." Groaning mentally Don looked at his watch. Half hour left.

"It sounds too much like a perfect scene to me." Colby pushed on the conversation. "Nothing on the body except for a bullet to the head, perhaps a few footprints. And a young girl who had just witnessed the crime."

"Okay, so besides the missing furniture and mail, why would he dump or take the furniture. Wouldn't that look strange, coming out of a house where a person had just been murdered?" David asked, laying out the evidence known.

"Charlee was heard saying that her parents were fighting. A custody battle."

"Right...which means that the absence that Anthony's neighbor's saw could have been the time that he was searching for both Andrea and Charlee. That and it might not have taken Anthony that long to find somebody new."

"Except there was no evidence that anybody besides him had been living there the past few months. And he had the time to come up with something that might not have looked suspicious in the first place. All Anthony had to know was that both Charlee and Andrea were going to be home that day, and then to plan something to where if he had to he could make up a scenario without bringing too much attention on himself."

"Like a person reinstalling carpet or something minor. But what I don't get is how no one can notice an entire glass window breaking and nobody in the entire neighbor notices, but they do when the police cars, ambulances, and yellow tape go up."

"Yeah it's like saying, 'teacher I didn't do it', but clearly the evidence is already in front of them and is heading their way."

--

"I'll get you your receipt." Landa offered later on after they had almost finished with the meal.

"Thank you that would be great." Megan set her fork back on her plate, Charlee was still finishing the last of her water as Megan checked her watch. "We've got to get a move on anyway."

Setting her empty glass down, Charlee sighed. "Do we have to?"

Her hand caught Charlee's chin softly, lifting her gaze to hers. "I'm afraid those are the rules." She didn't want to get the girl's hopes up. It was hard enough for Megan to work on not getting too attached to her. It would just make it three times as hard to let go. For the both of them. Charlee's eyes diverted to a spot on the table. "Don't give up hope that easily Charlee. There's always something around the bend that makes right now simplicity." Charlee's brown eyes gazed sadly at hers, a sparkle of hope inside.

"Sim-pli-kity." Charlee mulled over the new word. "What does it mean?"

Digging into her purse, Megan pulled out her wallet and they both stepped out of the booth. "It means easy." She smiled, placing her hand on the small of Charlee's back.

"Oh." Charlee drew out, looking back at the table. "My paper." With that she climbed back on the cushioned seat, reaching over with her small hand and grabbed the piece of paper. "Got it!" she smiled.

The smiling was contagious. "Come on, let's go pay for our meal." Megan walked over to the cash register, Charlee trailing along behind her. Landa set down some drinks on another table filled with peoples and walked back behind the counter.

"How was breakfast?" Landa inquired, adding up the bill.

"It was delicious, thank you." Megan offered, pulling out a twenty dollar bill that would be sure to cover the bill and handed it to her.

Landa nodded, "Out of twenty?" looking over the corner of her eye at Charlee as she took the money and counted out the change. "You don't see that many kids that age that are that behaved. She looks like she adores you." Pointing out she held out her hand and counted back the total amount before handing Megan the receipt and closing the register.

Megan looked up from putting the money putting back into her wallet, "Thanks, but I'm such how much I'll be adored after today."

Shaking her head, Landa bowed down to the shelf behind the counter, coming back up with a sucker in her hand. "Well if I didn't know better I would have thought that she your child and that you were a regular natural." She winked in a hinting gesture, "You've got to give yourself some credit though. I see plenty of people around this place--well you get the picture." Waving it off, she smiled lazily and looked over at Charlee who was again looking around the diner with curiosity. "Anyway, Who likes suckers?"

That caught Charlee's attention as the young girl abruptly gazed in her direction, eyes looking hungrily at the sucker; lips curling into a smile. "I do." Her voice was soft over the diner life; people talking, dishes bumping against each other as they were stacked together or loaded onto the cart.

Landa grinned back at her, handing her the sucker. "There you go, enjoy the sucker."

Charlee giggled. "Thank you!"

"Oh your mom taught you well. Let's go." Megan smiled, looking back over her shoulder to where the waitress was standing. "Thank you." she gestured with her hand, then gently led Charlee back to the car in safety.

"Bye." Charlee waved to the waitress, sucker in her mouth before they were out the door.

--

"So we already know that nothing unusual came up in the autopsy." Colby offered, tossing the file that he was holding, onto his desk. David walked up behind him, breaking off to go sit in his chair. "However we did get a hold of the phone number that we found on the phone records. The house belongs to a Kate and Rudy Morgan."

"Yeah, I believe that it was Suisan that we talked to. She said that the person that we were looking for is her husband. Not to mention that she was looking 'forward to something like this' before she walked back into the house." David added cocking his head in the direction of the file sitting on Don's desk. "I guess we'll be going back later when Joe gets off work then. What about the missing mail, did we find anything on that?

"Yeah, one. Found it tucked underneath a pile of magazines. Having it dusted for prints and maybe any evidence before they send it up here." Don picked up his phone and dialed.

Colby looked at his watch, nodded, then looked up towards the elevator doors that slid open. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe Charlee knows more than what she's letting on?"

"It's possible, but how much more could we get out of her? We have no idea how much this has affected her or how much she'll remember right now."

"Some children suppress the memories until later when they actually feel safe again. Not when they're in temporary safety." David pointed out as Don placed the phone back in the cradle.

Their conversation was put on hold as Charlee and Megan walked into view. "Hi Charlee."

"Hi." She greeted back softly."I got a sucker."

"That's never fair, I never get suckers." David teased her just as Megan's phone rang. She captured the moment of bonding before walking over to the window on the side of their floor.

"Reeves."

"Megan this is Dr. Meyers. Hey I received your message yesterday, but knew that I haven't had a chance to get back to you. I see you were referred to me by Dr. Erickson?"

"Yes."

There was a slight rustling on the other line, a file perhaps or a piece of paper. "Alright. I'm actually looking at your chart right now and see that you have received a positive on a pregnancy test. First off, congratulations. Second off, I welcome new clients and wondering when a good time would be for you to come in?"

"Guess that means I should be asking what days you have available. I'm actually working on a case right now, but should be able to get most any day off."

"Alright, let me check for you here. Hold on just a minute." A click of the keyboard sounded as Megan looked back over at the team, watching from a distance, the interaction between the team and Charlee. "This your first pregnancy?"

"No. I had a son, but he ended up being stillborn when he was six months along." She swallowed, but was surprised to how much she had kept her emotions at bay.

"Okay." Another few clicks of the keyboard. "Alright Megan, I would like to see you as soon as possible. And it looks as if I have an opening for nine tomorrow morning, or another at eleven thirty this Wednesday, is the soonest that I could see you."

"...Wednesday would be fine."

"Okay then I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday at eleven-thirty." Dr. Meyer's proceeded to finish, filling her in on a few details of the appointment and then the call was over--to which they ended and Megan closed her phone, re-pocketing it as she turned back to the animated interaction between the team. In fact if she wasn't mistaking--it almost looked like the perfect scene.


	17. Signal

Almost. But not quite. A new set of footsteps invaded the happy environment, the smiles and laughter faded as all five pair of eyes peered around the corner towards the elevator. Charlee sucked in a noisy breath, almost choking on the sucker juice. Everyone else was watching cautiously as two people, that could rather be quickly identified as agents, stepped out of the elevator.

Charlee looked over at Megan, instant relief in her expression. Over to Don, David and Colby. Same thing. Which made Charlee think, "false alarm?"

Megan met her gaze first, turning so her back so she was facing the cubicles. "False alarm." Her gaze caught Colby's, then David and Don. The same mirrored expression as hers. So was it possible to think that all four of them were falling head over heels for this brilliant little girl? Her eyes trailed down to the protective circle they had produced around Charlee--then back up at the expressions on their faces. Nobody but her had moved.

So the question was evident. Yes they were all falling in love with her. It was clear as a bell. And since they were smart enough, they were listening to the little voice that was telling them not to let her go. But not for the previous reason...no, it was all clear now. Who cares if the idea was spontaneously thought of.

The elevator opened, two unfamiliar faces stepped onto FBI grounds. Floor five. Walking their way, two men; one with a pen hanging out of his pocket. Megan rolled her eyes up towards them as they drew nearer. Already she knew this wasn't going to be good. The apparent fact--both were men...Charlee didn't exactly do well with Colby and David when she first encountered them on the scene. Not to mention something really didn't feel right...more like out of place was a better use of the word. "Something doesn't feel right here." Megan spoke her thoughts quietly under the radar of the two men who were getting closer. Her right hand narrowed underneath her coat, fingers laying ready to snatch up her gun if need be.

From the corner of her eye she saw David and Colby mimic the same response as her, both were rigid. Charlee looked up at her, scared stiff. "What do I do?"

"You just sit still. If this is what we think this is anything we do could trigger an action from them. So if it does, you need to listen to what one of us tells you to do. Okay?"

"Okay." She nodded, kicking her feet and loosening her posture. They waited until the two men were standing just a few feet from them.

"We're from DCSF. This Charlee?"

Don and Megan shared a silent response... they all felt the oddness. Now they just needed to figure out how to catch them in the loop. Rounding them, Don took them to the side for a moment. "Didn't anyone tell you that Charlee was scared stiff when a couple of my agents took Charlee from next door to the crime scene? There's no way that I'm letting you take her unless you can get someone here that is for one a woman, and two...not leaving her with any male alone. We have no idea how exactly she is going to respond to anyone and we might need to question her some more later on."

"Look Agent..."

"Eppes."

"Agent Eppes if you have a problem with our system I suggest that you call our supervisor and talk to him. We have a direct order to place her in the system with foster care. From what we know she has no other family and she needs to be placed as soon as possible in order to receive the best possible chance of finding another home."

David looked down at the card on Don's desk. Looking closer at the card, the suspicions that the team had finally been confirmed just by the name, Penny Rodgers. DCSF Supervisor. Standing he took a few steps forward, hand on his gun. "Although that won't be necessary unless you've gotten a new supervisor in the last day. So..." Drawing his gun, Colby was alongside him in an instance, distracting both men enough that Don had pulled out his own, and Megan had kept an eye on keeping Charlee at a safe distance of any one, and being the last to draw her gun.

One of the men looked down, hand itching to grab his own gun. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, especially if I had four guns drawn to the head. But hey that's your prerogative." Don quipped harshly, waving his gun so it was closer to the man's head, one hand still holding the gun so the barrel was touching the man's head before he placed it back in his holster before twisting the man's arm back behind his back. "And especially...especially since there at least several other agents on this floor that are trained to aim their guns at your head." He lowered his voice, pulling out his handcuffs. Megan pulled out the man's gun from his own holster, keeping her gun close to his head now. Colby and David handled the other man.

"Ah, looks like you two have got a lot to explain." Megan raised her eyebrow, her thumb holding up his gun up to his face. "No reason you'll be needing this any more." She peeked around his body frame, standing in front of him, her breath catching just as she pulled out another gun. His hand came up and she caught it with a stare, twisting his wrist a bit in her grip. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." At that exact moment Don pulled that hand back behind his back and finished cuffing him.

Don leaned in, "You better think about what you're going to say because you're about to start talking. Let's take them to Interrogation one." He gestured to David and Colby, leaving Megan and Charlee alone. And she found that Charlee hadn't moved an inch from where she had put herself close to underneath the desk.

"Hey Charlee." Megan bent to her level. "Want to come out now? It's all safe." Beyond persuasion, it looked as if this moment had triggered something inside of the young girl.

"Are you sure?" Charlee was literally shaking. "Knew you would keep me safe, not want to get hurt."

"I know the feeling. Come on let's go into the break room and get you some water." Tucking her legs briefly across her chest, Charlee crawled out from the small space and stood.

"Megan?" Her small voice was unusually wavering as her body shook, still with fear as they walked. Wrapping her hand around her shoulder just in case, heaven forbid this child had already been through enough that she didn't something else happening right now. Let alone that two men had just walked into a federal building portraying two DCSF workers. Megan wasn't sure what they had exactly planned on doing, but she had a feeling that nothing good would have come out of it.

The little girl squeezed her hand sadly. "What is it Charlee?" Concerned, Megan bent down to her level again. Despite it being in the middle of the workplace, she pulled Charlee softly towards the wall, ready to listen. When she didn't answer and instead looked around, Megan stood up, took her into the break room and closed the door.

Charlee looked up with crestfallen eyes. "Why do people want to hurt me? Did I do something wrong?"

Shaking her head, Megan sat down beside her on the couch. "You did nothing wrong, Charlee. Those men were the only one's who did something wrong. And we're going to find out why."

"But I didn't wait for the signal."

"It was the spur of the moment, and there's nothing wrong with keeping yourself safe." Smiling, she got one small smile out of Charlee, but then the young girl's smile faded.

"You're just trying to make me feel better." Charlee muttered, mouth quivering. "Will I ever see you again?"

"I'm sure we'll see each other at one point. We both can't hide forever."

Charlee couldn't suppress the smile. "So you'll always be here. Do you help other kids too?"

"Sometimes. Mostly we work with adults. And really I'm not sure if I'll always be here, but I'll be around."

Looking to the floor, Charlee gave a small. "Oh. But I like you here."

"I like here too." Megan remarked, leaning back against the couch. "But some times people have to move on or want to move on because they feel that it's right. You understand?"

"Yeah...I guess so. But how do I find you if you're not here?"

"I'll be sure to give a number that you can reach me. But you do realize that after these next couple weeks I'm going to be doing what's called resigning."

"What's that?"

"It's where I give up my job so that I can find another one."

Charlee wrinkled her nose. "Like what?"

"I want to teach Krav Maga at the YMCA. Krav Maga is kind of like karate but not."

"Oh. You like it then?"

"Yeah...yeah I do. You know what? Maybe you should come along some time and visit the YMCA. You never know you might like the place. They have some really fun activities and you'll get to meet some kids your age."

--

David closed the blinds of the interrogation room. "There's nowhere to start...nothing to say." One of the men refused as he sat in his chair, arms folded. Staring at him, David waged his way back over to the table and sat down, noting the time on the clock.

"Okay, how about you being charged on possession of not just one weapon, but two. Perhaps a count of attempted kidnapping of a child..." David's voice escalated, staying steady.

The man held up his hands. "You've got it all wrong...we weren't going to kidnap her. We had just been instructed to pick up the kid, take her back and that was it."

"Who instructed you?...where were you planning on taking her?"

"I don't know." The man shook his head to the side, not looking at David with full conviction. He was lying and he knew it. "I just thought the guy wanted us to pick up his daughter."

"You talking about Antonio Harrison... not to mention, do you usually follow suit when somebody tells you to pick their child up from a Federal building?"

"Look..." He paused. "I know how this looks, but I did nothing wrong. I sware."

David narrowed his brow at the man. "Really? Then mind telling me why these fell out of your pocket when we entered the room?" He turned the evidence in his hand, reading the content. "Rope...tape...bleach. Sure sounds like you were doing something to me. So I'm going to ask you again what were youi going to do with the little girl?"

--

Colby looked through the glass window. Since they were down one, with Megan being with Charlee...he was kind of in between watching rooms. So far not much was making sense. A mysterious blond...missing mail...now these two? Scrubbing his face with his hands, he turned to go down the hall. Maybe this other guy could fill in some of the blanks.

"...What makes you think that I know anything about that?" The other man asked incredously.

Colby knocked on the window, Don looked back, stood up and exited the room. They had been going at this for the last few minutes. "They were definitely planning on doing something to Charlee. David found a receipt in his pocket with the contents of a rope...tape and bleach."

That was interesting, considering both men gave a statement that they knew nothing. "And what do you want to bet those items are sitting right in our parking lot right now?"

--

**Everything is going to start fitting together in the next chapter. **


	18. On The Surface Part I

Sorry for the short length of this chapter, but I wouldn't have been able to write anything probably until Monday and knowing my muse it likes to write ninety nine percent of the time. Have to satisfy the muse that gives the ideas. That and I haven't really been feeling particularly very well on and off the past few days. Probably has to do with my knack of staying up too late all the time. Looks at my watch. Anyway be looking for '_On The Surface Part II' _next.

--

Charlee nodded at her, a pleased line of satisfaction lighting her features. "But why?...you're changing jobs." Then without warning she yawned, clearly exhausted. It was already eleven. What Megan didn't exactly know was that Charlee had been up since about five. Okay, so not even Charlee knew that; the only thing she did know was that the sun wasn't even up as she lay there on the couch, with Megan on a mattress beside her on the floor.

Her tiny fingers had refrained from touching Megan's cheek as they had dangled above her from the couch. Charlee blinked back to reality and then the thought dissipated just as quickly as she had remembered, her heart sinking a little knowing all this...Megan, Don...and the two other men who she couldn't remember their names... this wasn't going to be here for long. Even she knew that--although with uncertainty.

She was going somewhere...she was going to be adopted? Was that the word?... Charlee's heart sunk a little. Whatever that meant, she had to place these unfamiliar places...that she was never going home. Never. But really where she was, never felt like home. Megan's home felt the closest to what home felt like...she would take that.

"It's hard to explain Charlee...I know it's confusing, but there's a lot that I can't tell any one about."

"Like what?" Charlee asked curiously, stifling another yawn. "I won't tell anyone. Promise." She held up her pinky finger.

Megan smiled gratefully, but grabbed her hand and held it with comfort as she spoke. "I can't Charlee. Even if I could..."

"Yeah." Charlee exhaled, sighing. "My mommy said the same thing when she saw daddy with another lady. She said it was...cheating?" Charlee's lips puckered out like a fish as she sucked in a noisy breath. Megan on the other hand tilted her head to the side as something clicked.

"Charlee how long has your dad been seeing this lady?"

The little girl shrugged. "I dunno. Mommy said that's why we moved out. She called the house a few times."

"Which house? you're house?"

Charlee nodded affirmatively. "Mommy was not happy, but daddy still wanted me."

"Charlee, did your daddy talk to your mommy at any time?"

"No." She paused to shake her head. "Only the lady. She can start cars, without keys."

Megan heightened a little as she sat up in recognition. The mysterious blond was probably no longer mysterious. "And you've never gone to meet her."

Charlee nodded. "Yes...after school. I play with her son some times."

"Do you know how many times have you gone to see her? or a name?"

Counting silently on her fingers, Charlee counted all five of her fingers. "One. She was pretty, and no I don't know his name. But how do I know daddy loves her like he loves mommy?" The question set in, and then a firm crease of a frown lined her expression.

"At one time he probably loved her Charlee. We're going to find out what happened...pinky promise." With that Megan held up her pinky, to which Charlee's expression lit up again. She loved pinky promises.

--

"Whatever you're planning on finding Agent Eppes, you're probably not going to find." One of the men offered with a tantalizing grin as he sat in his chair handcuffed. "Not like you have the right to go through my things any way."

Don turned to Colby. "I think attempted kidnapping and possession of deadly weapons could be enough to obtain a warrant, don't you Colby?" It was time to play a little good cop, bad cop. "That's not excluding that your car is most likely on our turf, so all is fair game."

Colby nodded, offering his own smile. "In fact if I didn't know better somebody would be going through it right now." Checking his watch, he looked back towards the door. "And what do you think we'll be expecting to find?"

"I'm thinking ID's. And I mean the real ones, telling us who you are. Since you don't feel the need to tell us...And sooner or later we'll find out. And when we do..."

The man leaned forward with a sneer. "That's impossible, I have the keys in my pocket. How in the world do you think you're going to get in if you don't know where it is?"

Colby exchanged a glance with Don, who answered. "We do now."

--

"What do you know...rope, bleach and tape, all here." Colby offered as they went through the van. Another agent was going through the van with him. Don was checking in the front of the van as Colby lifted up a blue tarp. The content underneath was surprising, although another thing that connected the two men sitting in their interrogation rooms. "Don, we've got a body. He looks pretty beat up."

Closing the door to the front, Don rounded the van to the back, excusing the other agent out to give instruction to mark this van as a crime scene. He joined Colby at the back of the van, and was already putting on gloves as well as handing a pair to Colby.

"... Put murder on the already growing list of undeniable pieces of evidence." Colby offered grimly after noting that this man was long gone before looking over carefully all the bruises, the tears on his shirt, not to mention the scratch on the man's left cheek. Luck be it that a small orange chip was embedded in the wound.

"We already know that Andrea Lucas put up a good fight. Even though we don't have the murder weapon or getaway car yet, we can back up evidence wise what Charlee saw that night as we already know that Andrea was wearing orange nail polish at the time of her murder."

"Which means we no longer have to worry about a killer on the loose, but rather to find out who killed the killer."

--

"How's Charlee?" David asked, just as Megan closed the door to the break room. This was the second time in at least twenty four hours that Charlee had taken refuge on the couch of the break room.

"She fell asleep right after I pinky promised that we would find her father. Any luck cracking the DCSF wonder?"

"Yeah...Don and Colby are down in the parking lot rummaging through their van. I guess a little good cop, bad cop was practically when the guy gave up the location of his car keys." Raising her eyebrow, she chuckled slightly as they made their way back to their desks. Megan sat down immediately typing in some information into the database. "You hoping on finding something else that we don't know about?"

Typing fast on the keyboard, Megan nodded before giving her response. "Charlee mentioned a woman that could be our mysterious blond. Not to mention, one who hot wires cars without needing the keys and has a son that is in the same school as Charlee was. So I was thinking what if both her son and her as well were just bait in effort to unwrapping where Andrea and Charlee were located."

"And all Anthony really needed after finding their location was to get them into the trap... and he already knew that Andrea nor Charlee would be able to trust him again after what he did."

"...That and he knew that if he had another woman, there was a big chance that Andrea would think that she was in danger of going through the same tunnel she had." Megan added, turning the screen towards him. "There"

"And there she'll be." David searched over all the information listed. "It looks like she even has a little breaking and entering going on."

Megan was looking over the information as well. "Although it doesn't look like they were anywhere near each other when they were serving time."

"Which makes me wonder how they met." He chimed in, sucking in a breath. "Battery assault on a police officer..."

"So Anthony knew this and took advantage of her." Megan took off her glasses and laid them on her desk.

"It's possible." Colby cut in both he and Don walked into the cubicle area of desks. "We found somebody who we're sure is Anthony Harrison dead underneath a tarp. Now we just need to figure out what guy killed him."

"Maybe they both did." David suggested, as Colby and Don took interest on the woman on the screen."They're both acting like they have something to hide."


	19. On The Surface Part II

I actually got this chapter finished at a decent hour, which doesn't happen very often. Oh and just to let you know the name Lucia is used in this chapter in honor of one of Diane Farr's twin daughters, whom she just welcomed into the world yesterday. Welcome Sawyer Lucia and Coco Trinity! Congratulations to Diane, Seung, and Beckett. And babies make five! :) Yeah!

--

Megan and David walked up to the house. "Tell me again how you narrowed down the suspect list so quickly." In stride they walked down the pathway filled with flowers.

"I talked to one of Charlee's teachers on the phone and she knew exactly who I was talking about. Nice little boy. Mother is single now, takes care of her son...takes him to school during the day and works part time to support themselves."

He looked at her in disbelief, half teasing. "And you're sure you want to give this up." She exchanged a look as he rang the doorbell.

Looking around she noted the small house. Much smaller than what Andrea and Charlee had been living in the past few months. "Still would like to know how Andrea Lucas got all the money for another house and was able to pay out the school year." David nodded as they heard quick footsteps towards the door.

"Hi." A young boy with sandy hair spoke through the screen door after he had opened the other door.

Then a heavier set of footsteps followed as she reprimanded her son. "Seth, how many times do I have to tell you not to answer the door without me here?" Please go finish cleaning up your toys downstairs." The woman with blond hair looked up at them for the first time as her son scurried back downstairs. "Can I help you?"

"FBI." They both held up their badges. "We have a few questions about Antonio Harrison that we think that you may be able to answer." Megan introduced the subject, grimly.

"What has that man done now?" The woman offered, opening the screen door for them to enter. "Come in."

They both stepped in, looked around. "We think he murdered his wife and attempted to take his daughter. How much did Andrea tell you when you two met?"

"His wife? She was happy, although I think she was a bit discouraged that he would find somebody else so quickly. She called the house and I answered which was kind of a bold move if you're asking me. She told me she was hiding from her husband and she thought I was in danger. I didn't know this until we met at her insistence that I found out that my son became friends with her daughter Charlee while they had been attending kindergarten at school."

"So you weren't aware then that Anthony was at that time using you and your son to get to Andrea and Charlee." Inquiring, David looked around. There was a big difference between Andrea and Lacey's homes.

"No, but it all makes sense now. I started working another job and Anthony started offering to take Seth to school so that I could rest. Never did he mention while we were in the relationship that he had a wife or a child. So much that I thought when Andrea called that it was some phone prank."

"What made you believe her?"

"She asked me where I was in the house...and when I told her I was on the phone in the kitchen she told me to look in the drawer where I would find two pieces of paper and her wedding ring."

"Was there anything written on those two pieces of paper that you found?"

"Yeah. One was a restraining order, the other was a letter from Andrea stating that she was taking Charlee with her to a place that he would never find them. I left the papers in the drawer at his house, but brought back the ring to Andrea. Not soon after had I found those papers had Anthony and I broken up our relationship. He was going on all these odds and end trips back and forth to different places but he would never tell me what they were so I told him that whatever he was doing that I didn't want to be a part of it.

"Did Andrea tell you what the significance of the ring was that she wanted it back?"

"She told me that she had placed it there because she wanted their marriage to be over. I think she said that it belonged to her grandmother and that she only used it as her wedding ring because at that time Anthony and her couldn't afford another one."

Both David and Megan exchanged a glance. "But it doesn't look either one of them had issues with money from what I hear since they got married three years ago."

"It's enough to make me sick to know that he had been still been married when we were in a relationship together. It was a big blow for Seth. He took it hard when his own father left out of the blue when he was three and a half. He got pretty attached to Anthony the past few months and then we moved here closer to my new job, hoping we could start new and that's Seth met Charlee. He keeps asking me when he can see her again. How is she?"

"For as much as she's been through, she's doing remarkably well." David answered her question, writing more information on his notepad and clicking the pen off.

Dana nodded. "Good. That's good to hear."

A short pause and Megan asked the next question. The one that would need to be answered. "Ah Dana, while you were dating Anthony did he mention that he had any family, perhaps a mother or a sister?"

"No." She shook her head. " I mean he doesn't. He said his parents died in a car accident. He also mentioned a sister but he never spoke her name."

"Alright. All of that is very helpful. But I have to ask...Do you know if anybody would want Anthony dead perhaps anyone that you saw that might have had a grudge with him--possibly during the time you and your son was living with him?"

An apparent shudder rolled through her, her eyes narrowed in thought. "I don't see how this relates to the case, unless..." Her mouth slacked somewhat as she gazed up at them, her blue eyes wide. "You..you're telling me that he not only killed his wife but now he's dead too?"

"That's correct. So I ask you once again, do you know anybody that would want to kill Anthony Harrison?"

She looked like she was still processing it all as she forced herself to answer the question. "Why are you telling me this? No, I don't know anybody that would want to kill him. Anthony had his own computer business, worked late nights at the office..."

"Where is this office?"

"He worked mostly from home. He never told me straight but it bothered him that nobody wanted to hire him, so he took over a business that he and a friend use to own."

"And do you know the name of this friend?"

"Danny Carlos."

--

"That's the second time this week that we've heard the last name Carlos."

Megan rounded her way to the passenger door quickly, "What do you want to bet they're related?"

David offered a chuckle in her direction at the way she had just delivered the line. In fact it was more like the Megan he knew. "Well there's only one way to find out." The both of them entered the car and they headed over to the house of Joe and Suisan Carlos.

--

"Special delivery." Colby offered as he waved the manila folder in his hand and set it down on his desk grimly. "There were only one set of prints on this piece of mail that we found in Anthony's home, which probably belonged to the post man who delivered his mail. However the content inside tells a different story." He explained as Don opened the folder dumping out the opened piece of mail, edging him to reach forward and read it.

"Anthony. You know the deal is now off. We had an agreement that Charlee was to remain with both you and Andrea and we agreed to give you the money and for you to keep Charlee as long as you were together. You already had one chance before and now that chance is over." Don set the letter down on the desk. "Joe Carlos"

"Looks like we know how Anthony was getting the money."

"And Charlee was just a dirty deal to be thrown into the mix." Don took out his phone and pushed the speed dial as he placed the receiver to his ear. "Not to mention we have enough for a warrant to search his house which could clear up a few other things as well..." Listening to the ringing, he waited for somebody on the other line to pick up.

A few seconds later someone did. "Reeves." She gave her informal greeting.

"Hey Megan, we got the prints back on the piece of mail we found at Anthony's house and there was only one set of prints that we think belonged to the mail carrier. However we found what looks like a letter stating a money deal between Joe Carlos and Anthony. Why don't you see if you can pick him up on your way over there."

"We're on it." And with that she closed her phone, settling back in her seat. "Looks like we're no longer just going to talk to Joe Carlos. Our mysterious piece of mail seemed to hold value of sorts. Charlee was the money deal, now we just need to figure out why."David nodded in understanding, putting his foot on the gas.

"It's shaping up to look like Charlee possibly has family after all."

Megan brushed away a stray piece of her hair from her face as she pinched the bridge of her noise and replaced her sunglasses back over her eyes. "She was probably too young to realize that she had been taken in the first place." Undoing her seat belt, they came to a stop in front of the house, her eyes scanned the premises. Nothing...nothing...open door. Her hand went to her gun as she opened her door.

David drew out his own gun before spotting the open door, following quickly behind her. They both silently stood on on the sides of the door frame. Curtains were already drawn-unmoving-so there was most likely no element of surprise on their part. They both split up, clearing all the rooms until David's voice echoed in the silence. "Hey Megan, I've got something." She let out a breath of air and followed his voice to a small sized bedroom where she grimly stepped in and quickly replaced her gun in it's holster on her side. "Still have a faint pulse. Looks like she was shot in the chest--she could have a collapsed lung."

At that time the woman's eyes flickered as she stirred with a low moan. Her lips pursed, "My husband..." She choked out as she laid there.

"Shh...we're going to do everything that we can to help you." David spoke softly, turning to Megan who was already on the phone with getting an ambulance. "We're going to need something to hold off the bleeding."

Megan looked around the room. It was pretty much spotless. The bed was made... no shirts, jeans, any kind of clothing lying around. But possibly a pillow case would work. Already on her knees she stood up abruptly, the phone in between her shoulder and ear as she ripped off the white pillow case, she knelt back down and covered her hands over the wound, applying pressure just as a creak from the wood in the kitchen alerted them that they were no longer the only ones in the house. David nodded his head out in the direction of the kitchen, gun already drawn.

Stealthily he entered the hall back towards the kitchen. "Mom?" A voice inquired as she heard the soft footsteps. "Is that you? I brought you and dad some groceries."

David lowered his gun, still cautiously rounding the corner. The woman stepped back, slightly startled as she caught sight of him. "Who are you? Where are my parents?" David put his hands on his lips, reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge.

"FBI." He took a step forward. "You must be their daughter, I'm Agent Sinclair. Do you know where we can find your father?"

"My father?" The woman still sounded a bit strained, her voice growing higher with anticipation. "Why would I even know where he is? I live about an hour away from here, and besides my father and I haven't really established communication for the past three years."

David stepped back to the hall was in view, realizing that he shouldn't leave Megan there too long even though he knew that an ambulance was on the way. "If I may ask why three years?" This was the first time that he noticed her expanding belly. It was just a guess but she looked like he was about to pop.

"I still haven't forgiven him for losing my daughter. She went missing when she was two years old. He was suppose to have been watching her but he decided to take her to a park instead and came back to tell me that Charlee had some how walked off and went missing." Her fingers played with her wedding ring on her left hand as she teared up, looking at him abruptly. "The thing is I have a strong feeling she is still alive, but why am I telling you this? You couldn't possible help me."

To her surprise he added, "Or maybe I can." The sound of sirens got closer. "But first I need you to help me out with something."

--

"How long are you planning to keep me here agent?"

Don lowered his voice, almost in warning as he sat down the seat across from his. "As long as it takes to get what we want. You see you've just added murder to your list of troubles." The man opened his mouth to protest, but Don silenced him. "You'll be happy to know we also found these in the glove compartment, Rex." Tossing the wallet it spun landing in front of the man and Don leaned forward. "Nice name by the way." He mocked in a way. "I'm sure all the prisoners will love being companions with Rex and Talbert Hughes."

"If you're wondering if we were going to beat up by our names, nice try. Besides whatever you found you'll be happy to know the van doesn't belong to either one of us. Look it up if you don't believe me. We just borrowed it from a friend."

"To do what? Oh you mean to kidnap the little girl." Don recollected, with a hard edge. "That why you brought guns, Rex? Because here we believe evidence doesn't lie."

"Whatever. You can't prove my involvement with anything that you found in that van."

Don raised his eyebrow. "Who told you we found anything?" Rex stayed silent, his body rigid. "I'll let you tell me about the details when I get back because I'm pretty sure by then whether or not you have an answer, we can fill in the blanks with, or without you."

--

"Please, can I talk to my daughter. Can I see her?"

Megan sat across from her in the table in interrogation. "I'm afraid we can't just yet as we still have several questions that need to be answered before we can even help you find your daughter. Which means that I have to ask, Lucia what happened the day you found out that your two year old daughter had just walked away from the park while in the care of your father?"

"I was sick to my stomach that's what I was. She was only two years old, and my father couldn't even keep an eye on her." She burst out in anger, close to tears. "I remember him telling me over the phone that he had looked away from one minute and then she was gone" Fingers shaking she held her thumb and second finger slightly apart from each other in measurement, before putting her hands back into her lap. "This has to be her. I just know it. But how?"

"You see that's what we're trying to figure out." Megan pulled out the letter between her father and Anthony Harrison and handed it to her. "We found this letter stating from your father to Anthony which indicated that he was offering Anthony and mostly likely his wife Andrea a money deal that they had probably agreed to when they took Charlee. However the money deal had been broken which led to not just one but two murders."

"I don't believe it. From what I heard Anthony was not just a good business partner with my brother Danny, but he was also a good friend. Anthony moved away after about a year and could no longer do business with Danny. From what I heard, Anthony's wife was having some health problems so they were away a lot."

"You mean Andrea. Do you remember what she had?"

"Yeah, she had some kind of cancer..." She trailed off, a thought hitting her. "That prevented her from having children. Is that why you think that she took Nadia..."

Megan blinked at the thought of calling Charlee, Nadia. "It could have very well been part of it, or it could have been for the money to support something more."

"Like what?"

"Frankly we don't know. That's what we were hoping to ask your father. I know you haven't spoken to your father in about three years but do you know of any place that he could be? Anywhere you can think of that you might think that he might be?"

Lucia shook her head in confusion, then stopped. "I still can't believe that he might have done something like shooting my mother or selling my daughter just so he can get his daily fix of whatever it is that he's getting." She paused, sighing. "I don't know if this will help but he likes to buy old antique art books. From what I remember as a child he always use to go to two different antique shops to buy his books. Whenever he wanted to escape or to teach me or Danny something he would take us to one of them."

Megan sat up in her chair. "Do you remember what either one are called?"

Shaking her head, she pulled her cellphone out of her purse. "No, but I know that Danny does. He took up the same hobby as our father."


	20. What's Love Got To Do With It?

"Larry?" Charlie called out to his friend as they sat in the reserved quiet of his office. Deep in thought, Larry turned his head in Charlie's direction

Finally seeing his fault in not listening to the conversation, Larry apologized. "I'm sorry Charles, but my head is not so much in the game of theory right now. Well actually it is but in a different form which leads to a deeper meaning."

Charlie sighed, shoving his hands into his pocket and walked up to the window where Larry had been staring out for at least the last twenty minutes. The corners of Charlie's mouth twitched in reason. "This wouldn't have to do anything with Megan does it?" He looked half amused, half way for the fact that Larry was still half in the clouds, and finally looked him in the eyes. Charlie pointed out in a gesture with his hand. "In fact I know that look."

"For all I know, I could be expressing a million different expressions right now, Charles. One that's asking if Megan and I are taking this way too fast, and another is still slightly numbing blocking out every other emotion needed by man."

"That serious huh?" Digging out his hands from his pockets, Charlie straightened and walked over to the chalkboard and erased the last equation that he had illustrated to his class about an hour before.

"I just proposed to the woman of my dreams." He explained the seriousness that Charles spoke of, although the obviousness wasn't immediately apparent. "We're talking of houses, marriage and kids here, Charles."

"Really you're talking about kids...already?" Charles sided blowing out a breathe of air, an uneasy smirk, as he rubbed his hand through his curly hair. "You're not even married yet."

At that the corners of Larry's mouth twitched in that familiar way that he knew. Larry ended up pacing back to the window. "Technically...no. But if you're asking me if things are going to change immensely--" He opened his mouth to continue but quickly closed it. Gathering the books that he needed, he placed them in his bag.

Charlie gestured his hand in the air. "And so what you're trying to tell me that you're alright with all this? Larry Fleinhardt is ready to get married?"

Larry gave him a grim look. "Not ready Charles. I honestly cannot explain the depth all this brings. I feel like the luckiest man on earth, yet I also feel like my life on earth has flipped about three hundred and sixty degrees and brings me a different perspective on life."

"But you love her." Charlie threw out, slashing Larry's doubt. "I know with Amita that I haven't gotten close enough to ask her to marry me yet. However, I do know that when you love someone you should spend the rest of your life with them--no matter how long it takes to get to point A to point B."

--

Charlee sat up, slightly confused. For a moment she had forgotten how she had gotten here. She was having a dream about climbing a tree--looking at the beautiful sunset as she sat perched in the tree's limb. It was a beautiful sight. However what was even more beautiful than the colors of the sunset was the people that surrounded her below. Megan. Don. David. Colby. And also a few other people that she didn't know.

Sighing, she shivered violently before wrapping the warm blanket tighter around her body and sank back into the couch. Her eyes slammed closed at the pain in her head as her eyes caught the light of the break room. She felt sick that was for sure. Groaning, she snuggled into the coach, tears welling up in her eyes. She cried quietly and let her steady breathing lull her back to a deep sleep.

--

"Susian Carlos is still in surgery but is expected to make a full recovery from the gun shot wound that she received." David reported as he sat back at his desk. Megan was standing by, her back against the desk.

Megan nodded. "We ended up finding the gun stashed underneath the bed under an old violin case."

"Yeah and we're running a ballistic match against the one we found in Andrea as well. If Joe Carlos and Anthony Harrison were close enough to make a money deal, now we have to ask if they were they close enough to exchange a gun? I'm assuming that neither one of them suspected the neighbor would be planning to go over there. We're still trying to figure out where the van that Anthony was using the day Andrea was murdered. We have no hair, no DNA, and no weapon--unless we can find some sort of a match between the two murders.

"It's either dumb or dumber." Colby looked in the direction of the interrogation room.

"Or it could be neither." Everybody just stared at her. "Rex and his brother could be some kind of throw off. They either know that they did the crime or they didn't. If they're hiding something, eventually guilt is going to creep up on them whether they talk or not. So far we know that the car was registered to Rex, although there was a van that Anthony was driving just like what we're ripping apart now. We had no other contact of knowing where Anthony was these past few days after we found Charlee and if the autopsy for Anthony ends up showing that he's been dead for the past two days--then we know that we're looking at either charging at both of them to where they'll tell us to who did the crime."

"Which means that we're going to have to talk to the neighbors again to find out if anybody remembers any other details that could place Anthony not being the only one in that vehicle." Don groaned, turning towards Colby and David. "Why don't you and Colby go check that out. Anything suspicious might help us with a lead that doesn't end at a dead end. Megan and I will go through all the information again and see if there's anything that we can find that might have been overlooked or missed." Standing up, both followed orders and headed towards the elevator.

"I'm going to go check up on Charlee before we get started."

Don grunted, making her pause and look back. He had a file in his hand and was flipping through it with mute interest. "So what did your doctor say?"

"I have an appointment at eleven-thirty tomorrow and I should know more of the details by the time Wednesday dinner comes around." Nodding once in dismissal she turned back towards the break room.

"Good. And Megan, I know this isn't probably something that you want to hear, but if you--let me rephrase that, take the day off." He knew she was the same way--not taking lightly to instructions. Neither one of them could stay in the hospital or a home knowing that there was a good case that couldn't be passed up.

"Would love to. But the last time I checked, I don't take a break until my partner does." Crossing her arms, the corner of her lips tipped up in an amused way. "I haven't forgotten Don. You're only human--and even though you're putting others before yourself, doesn't mean that you're not suffering the consequences. Leaning against the desk, she straightened offering him a bleak look and headed off towards the break room; closing the door quietly behind her.

Breathing out a sigh, she slowly walked over to where Charlee's body was facing the couch. Her steady breathing was a sign that Charlee was still asleep. Pulling up a seat, Megan checked her watch on her wrist before placing her hand softly over Charlee's forehead. It had been quite a few hours since Charlee had laid down, not to mention that the young girl was now burning up with a fever.

Looking towards the cabinet, Megan thought about how they didn't have any type of thermometer here at the office. And the office life wasn't anywhere appropriate sick little girl. Not like this whole thing with her parents, or rather her adoptive parents was doing any good. Everyone had almost forgotten that the reason that Andrea and Charlee had been discovered because the neighbor had volunteered to bring over some soup for Charlee. Other than that, if they hadn't been discovered--Charlee probably would have perished as well.

Making a brief assessment, Megan rolled the young girl over. Her heart sank at the tear stained cheeks and the rosy cheeks. Her hand stroked the young girl's forehead over and over as she called out her name. "Charlee. Come on sweetie, I need you to wake up."

Several times Charlee stirred but did not awake that easily. The young girl mumbled and groaned, trying to turn back into a comfortable position in the process. Even in the mumbles, Charlee cried out once. "Please don't make me go. Please." Her voice proved weak as she asked her desperately, eyes still shut tightly.

"Charlee it's Megan." At the sudden recognition Charlee's eyes flew open. Her eyes searched Charlee's fierce and still scared gaze. Megan reassured her, "You're not going anywhere right now. In fact I'm going to take you home so you can rest up."

Slowly the young girl sat up, her hand holding onto Megan's. "Really? Why?"

Megan stroked her hair with a sigh. "Because you're running a fever and an office is not place for the sick."

"I'm not sick." Charlee offered unconvincingly, standing.

"Oh...I beg to differ. Nice try kiddo. Let's go." Placing her hand on Charlee's small shoulder Megan led her out the door. When they had reached the office area, Don was now sitting at his desk.

"Hey Charlee. When did she wake up?" He looked over at Megan next.

"I woke her up just a few minutes ago. She's running a slight fever, so I decided that I should take her home."

"Right. The office is no place for the sick." Don repeated Megan's words from earlier with a wink. Charlee's mouth fell open a little, even though she was still only half awake.

"Can you read minds? Megan said that already." Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Charlee sighed in wonder. Her gaze caught Don's and a small but apparent smile lit up on her face. She was really starting to like this place. Hopefully this wouldn't be the last time that she would be seeing it. Yawning, Charlee covered her mouth with her hand and looked up at Megan with content anticipation. "This means I get to go home?"

"For now it does." Megan answered exchanging an odd glance with Don as she directed Charlee in the direction of the elevator before turning back towards his desk. "Let me know what happens, I'm going to see if we can beat this sickness."

Giving a nod, it was apparent to both Don and Megan that they shouldn't mention the sheer fact that Charlee's mother was close by--searching, or in fact had been searching for her daughter. They weren't sure because if this was anything like the child service spoof they had gone through earlier, they didn't want this to be another. What they wanted most right now was for Charlee to make a swift recovery, and to close this case. That's what they were all counting on right now.

--

"So we've got so far, no evidence on Andrea besides the bullet. However ballistics called a little while go and said the bullet in Andrea and the gun that was found at the Carlos house was the exact match that had killed her." David reported with a raise of his eyebrow.

"That makes no sense." Colby furrowed his brow. "And the gun was registered to Joe?"

It was Don's turn to shake his head and step up to the plate. "Not exactly. It was Anthony's gun that Joe used to shoot his wife Suisan. Or so we think. So far no prints in the house but Joe, Suisan, and their daughter Lucia. We don't actually have much on how the gun made its way over to his house anyway, and there's definitely no trace that Anthony was anywhere near the house."

"So the evidence is just as empty as in Andrea's house." David sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as they tried to put what they had, together.

"Unless, Joe killed Anthony and Suisan found out about it in the end. Perhaps they had an argument about it."

"Or it could be just as much the daughter if anything. She looked kind of surprised that Megan and I were there in the first place. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Suisan found out about everything he was up to and then called their daughter to let her know of the good news that her daughter was in fact still alive. Lucia told me that she hadn't etablished communication with her father for the last year, which probably meant that she wasn't coming over as much as well."

Nodding, Don sat up in his seat. "Which gives her a reason to being there at the house. Let's check the phone records of the Carlos' Although we don't have much on the daughter yet, we might be able to find something on the record that may or may not tell us if she made contact with them beforehand." Turning around in his seat, he picked up the phone. "What about Andrea's neighbors?"

Both Colby and David exchanged a glance before David pulled out his black notepad and flipped halfway through before getting to the correct page. "There was one neighbor that came forward, said she didn't watch the news or read the newspaper. Mainly she said she minds her own business. But. She did mention later that she followed behind a white van that she saw leaving the residence of Andrea Lucas' house on Monday. We also showed her a picture of the van we found earlier today and she confirmed that it was the same one that we saw earlier today. She couldn't confirm that it was Anthony that was actually driving the van though."

Colby nodded in agreement. "She did however follow him for a few minutes down the highway on her way to the grocery store about fifteen minutes away, which can possibly give us a partial route that he was on before taking off."

"And this also leaves us to find out what part Rex and his brother had in this twisted crime. Whether we find out that they were both there at the time of the murder, or just there to help settle the score. I guess we'll be finding that out soon."


	21. Awake

Hey, writer's block is gone. For now. And so the story shall continue...

----

With a soft knock on the door, Megan stirred from her place in her chair, quickly checking that Charlee was sound asleep- to which she was- before going to answer the door. "One bottle of Children's Tylenol and some Sprite." He held up a brown plastic bag and had a package of sprite in his other hand.

"Thank you. I wouldn't have asked, but with Charlee asleep."

"Speak no further, my darling." He smirked, and she smiled back, kissing him on the lips.

"You seem to have your hands full. Can I take anything?" She held out her hand after closing the door and locking it.

"You can." He bowed his head slightly, going over the two objects in hand, then proceeded to hand her the light brown plastic bag. "Now I have use of both of my hands." The occurring thought came a few seconds later. "Well almost." He adjusted the sprite in his hands.

Megan laughed quietly, "Come on." She latched his arm around his and they made their way into the kitchen, closing the sliding door behind them.

---

"Ever get the feeling when you're not wanted?" With sunglasses on, the two stuck out like soar thumbs, even wearing normal clothes to fit in.

David smiled, gazing at him with a humorous look as they walked to another house on the block. "All the time." They both smiled, walking up an old crumbling porch. "Man, this place looks like a dump." He kicked at some of the junk that happened to be blocking their way to the door.

Colby shrugged and knocked hard on the door, just above where the white paint on the door was peeling off. They waited a moment, and at first it seemed like no one was at home, but a rattling was heard from the inside. Colby looked up to the porch ceiling, drawing his gun. "He's going out the back."

"Well that was quick." David drew his own gun and they both got off the porch. David started leaning towards the left.

Colby peered toward the right side of the house. "Looks like there's another latch on this side." And with that were both off in the other direction, in hopes of cutting the person off before they escaped.

A bullet whizzed past David's right ear, bouncing into the nearby fence that he had just come through. In turn, David shot one into the fence between the guy's tattooed arm, but that didn't stop him from just about hopping the back fence.

"Next time, I guarantee that I'm not going to miss." David called out warning as the guy struggled to get over the fence, but Colby aimed his gun with a surprise tactic so the cold steel could be felt on the back of the suspect's head, and the guy climbed down and froze.

"And I guarantee that this one is going into your head." Colby promised him "If you don't drop that gun." It was true that he wasn't going to give this guy a second thought. If he thought about turning around and firing the gun in his hand, one more time, before he knew it, he would be dead and bleeding on the ground with at least two bullets in his head.

---

"Eppes." Don greeted, listening carefully to the person on the other line, grabbing his keys off his desk, and heading towards the elevator. "Thanks, I'll be right there." He pushed his phone closed, pushing it into his pocket as he entered the elevator.

It had been the phone call that the team had been waiting for. Suisan Carlos was awake enough to be questioned. Maybe she would be able to give some insight to her husband's whereabouts, or even if she could give a time frame or a new insight to the case. Not only that but Danny Carlos was there was there with her, and had been since last night.

The more they knew, the faster they could get this case solved and get a little girl back to her mother. At first it had seemed right, but any case that involved a child, was always hard. Especially this one. They had all gotten attached, no matter how hard they had tried not to.

Charlee was something different. She was smart, loveable, innocent, and funny. She would fit in just perfectly. But if only she knew completely that she had a real mother, a father, and siblings that never got to know her. No, that bond had been taken away from them.

And he would be one that would try to get it back for her. It wouldn't be easy, but he knew that he had to try.

---

Putting the sprite on the counter, Larry inquired. "I take things haven't been going so well on the case."

Megan took out the Tylenol out of the plastic bag. "Yes and no. There are so many twists and turns in this case as well…"

"Ah, Charlie told me about what happened with Charlee. Have you told her that her mother is out there somewhere?"

"" You know, I've thought about it numerous times, in various situations, but it always ends up that I can't bear to disappoint her if her mother ends up having some involvement in this case…" Opening up the cupboard, she stopped. "Water?"

"Please." Grabbing three glasses, she brought out a pitcher of water from the fridge and filled the glasses while continuing in a hushed whisper, as not to disturb the young girl from resting.

"…The mother that she thought she knew ended up being killed and abused, and could have abused her for all we know in the past. Her so called father, killed. Her grandpa sold her for greed, and then shot her grandmother."

"It seems that I've heard that sometimes we don't ask for some things in life, but we still get it." Larry mused, taking the glass from her as she brought it over. "Thank you."

Megan smiled, knowing that should had comforted her—but it didn't. "Yeah, well you try telling that to a little girl so innocent that it breaks her heart." Taking a short sip, she took a look at the direction on the Tylenol bottle. In a way she wished that she could take some Tylenol for her pounding head.

She had been feeling increasingly more and more fatigued; falling asleep either on the couch or the chair the last few days, since Charlee felt more comfortable on the couch for some reason or another; especially when she was close by.

---

"You going to start talking, or do we have to do it for you?" David asked, dangerously irritated. "Do you or do you not know anything about Anthony or Andrea Lucas?"

"I use to see them driving down the streets some time, or out walking with their daughter, but that's about it."

""Anything about them seem unusual when you saw them last?" A pen ready in his hand, David kept normal eye contact with the suspect and Colby, while scoping out the house as well.

"Not really. Other than the fact that their walks were getting less and less frequent, to the point that they stopped coming around."

"When was that?" Colby asked point blank as he looked around the house, stopping at the fridge. He held up a picture of the guy, Charlee, and Andrea."

He stuttered momentarily. "That was at a fair. We all went."

"Who do you mean by we? You, Andrea, Charlee?" David pressed, eyes focused on the subject and the picture at hand.

"Yeah, and her husband Anthony. I thought at first that they acted like the perfect family, but Andrea used to come around more and more often and confided in me once that her husband was abusing her, and she was afraid that he was going to do that to Charlee if they didn't get out of there."

""So what exactly your involvement with her?" David questioned again.

"We were just friends." He offered looking more at the picture hesitantly, shaking his head like he had changed his mind. "And I helped her get out of there. Well first I told her that if he had been doing those things that she said he was doing, that both she and Charlee needed to go to the police and report what he had done, but she was too afraid to go."

"Did Andrea ever mention that he was threatening her?"

"No. She didn't say any more than she had too, but after awhile it was obvious how bad he was getting. After I got them out, he threatened to send somebody after me, or come after me by himself."

"So that's why you ran when we came." Colby offered a point of understanding, putting the other picture back on the fridge, and picked up another one.

"Not exactly. I heard that both he and Andrea had been murdered, but I still thought that he would do well on his word and send somebody else after me. I've been on edge ever since I heard of their deaths. Where's Charlee going to go now that her parents are dead?"

""With her family, Mr…"

"Oh…Peterson. But you can call me George."

Okay, George. David agreed, pausing. "She's going back to be with her family, where she belongs."

"Oh." His expression fell a little, and then lifted with a half smile. "I will never forget the look on her expression every time she came walking down that sidewalk. "She use to laugh and light up, but I saw that it got increasingly harder for her to, from the beginning to the end when I saw them last."

David nodded to Colby that they had gotten everything that they needed, and that they should get back to the office. "We appreciate your cooperation." Colby told him, peeling off his gloves."But one more question. Have you ever seen a white van driving around here?"

George squinted, thinking. "Yeah. Yeah, I have. I was coming home from work and saw two men at my door. I didn't pull in because I didn't really recognize them. I ended up driving down the block."

"And they didn't see you at any time that you were driving past?" David asked frankly, scribbling something down on the notepad, flipping the page and continued to write.

"They looked back, but I hoped that they thought that I was just another part of the neighborhood, just driving by."

Colby stepped forward."Do you think you got a good enough look at them that you might be able to recognize them in a line up?"

"I…I think so. What did they do?"

"We're not sure yet." Colby presented, and David stepped forward also.

"But we're starting to get a pretty good picture."

---

Room 104.

Suisan Carlos lay in her bed, looking like she was fast asleep. She was pale and slightly beaten from her surgery earlier. Her son Danny was sitting beside her with his head in his hands, leaning slightly as he sat in a chair beside her bed.

Don knocked softly on the door and Danny stirred from his seat and sat up. "I'm Agent Eppes. Mind if I ask you a few questions."

"Sure."

"Has your father ever done anything like this before?" Don asked, stepping into the room and pulling out his notebook.

"No. He's never done anything like this. But after Nadia disappeared, I don't think he ever acted the same. He was just acting so strange. Became increasingly irritated, and spent more and more time away from home. Thought that he was just reacting to Nadia's disappearance, but after I found out that he had shot my mom like a ruthless criminal, I started to put the pieces together. And apparently, so had she."

TBC...


	22. Breakthrough

Opening the Tylenol bottle up, Megan took one of the chewable tablets and placed it in her hand. She filled up the glass half full of water. They both heard a creak in the living room, or some sort of rustling. "Sounds like Charlee might be up." With that she left the kitchen. No sooner than she had walked through the door, a little voice spoke.

"Megan?" Charlee inquired, head resting on the arm rest. The blanket that had been laying over her was now scrunched into a little ball to the side of the couch.

"Right here. How are you feeling?" Sitting down on the coffee table, she put the glass next to her and reached over to brush her hand over her forehead. She immediately frowned. "Hey Larry, can you get the thermometer out of the cabinet?"

"My head hurts."

"I know. I have some Tylenol. Maybe this will help so your head doesn't hurt as much." Charlee sat up, but swayed a little.

"Okay. I'm dizzy." Her little head leaned back against the couch.

A cabinet closed and Larry walked in and handed her the thermometer." You think her fever has gone up?"

"Yeah, I just brushed my hand over her forehead and she felt much warmer than about a half an hour earlier." Adjusting her ear so she could stick the ear thermometer in, she turned the device on. "See for yourself." Following suit, Larry put his hand lightly on her forehead.

"You're right, she definitely feels warm."

She gazed curiously at Charlee; the girl opened her eyes just a little. "How are you doing Charlee?"

"Tired." She yawned, and then closed her eyes again.

"I know. Just a little bit longer and then you can go back to sleep, okay? "

"K."

A few moments later the thermometer beeped, the reading 101.7 was a scary thought. Charlee's body temperature was almost to 102 degrees.

"What exactly do we do now?" Larry broke the silence.

"My sister Alyssa always got sick when we were younger. I remember that my mom would sit there all night with her, rubbing a wet washcloth over her forehead and face. "

"A washcloth it is then"

"Thanks." With him heading upstairs, Megan brushed her hand over Charlee's forehead again. Her body letting out a shudder, Megan sat beside her and reached over for the wadded up blanket.

"Megan?" Charlee's voice was softer this time; almost a whisper.

"Yes, Charlee."

"Can you stay here with me?"

"I'll be here all night if I have to." Her voice sounded dry and then Megan remembered the Tylenol. "Charlee. . . before you go back to sleep, let's take this medicine."

"I don't like medicine-" The young girl offered, not opening her eyes.

Smiling, Megan offered. "I don't know a person who does. Although this medicine is flavored." Footsteps followed down the stairs, then stopped. Larry was standing there on the steps, watching them.

Despite her sickness, her attention had peaked. "What flavor?"

"Cherry." She grabbed the water off the coffee table. "What do you say?"

It took a minute but Charlee opened her eyes a little. She tried to nod, but her little body swayed back and forth again. "Okay."

"Here. Open your hand." Her little hand opened slowly and Megan small pill in her hand. "Put this in your mouth and chew."

"Chew?" But by that time, she had already put the pill in her mouth without thinking much about it, and then chewed and swallowed in one motion. It was evident that the little girl was overcome by much sickness.

"Let's lie you down." Megan whispered, the girl clearly asleep. As she was about to move Charlee, when the young girl's head fell against her shoulder.

"Hey, Larry—" Half in greeting, as she tried to adjust—finding that she couldn't move.

"By the looks of it, Charlee looks rather comfortable. You on the other hand, not so much."

"Well, it's something that I could definitely get used to. Just think, Larry. One day we're going to have a little boy or girl who's probably going to do the same exact thing."

"And Charlee?" She looked down at her to make sure that she was truly asleep and wouldn't be able to overhear their conversation—at least not much.

"If we can prove that her mom has no involvement in this case, then she goes back to her." Megan rubbed at her forehead. "I don't know. Usually I would agree with this…but not this time."

"Rex Hughes, arrested for attempted robbery back in 98'—otherwise, he's been on the down low." Colby addressed the group, pushing the button on the screen.

"And his brother Talbert Hughes was picked up and arrested on some petty charges for attempting to steal some items in a gas station about a year later." Don offered, sitting down in his seat.

"Okay, so what about Joe Carlos? We know that he shot his own wife to cover up the fact that he took his own granddaughter." David took the remote into hand and enlarged the picture of Joe Carlos on the screen.

Colby walked back and forth. "Yeah…and a dirty money deal, but for what?"

"Besides for Charlee . . . in the letter we found in Antonio Harrison's house, he talks about how Andrea and Antonio can keep Charlee for as long as they're together. And we know that as long as their together, the money keeps flowing in." Don chimed in.

"Right. Except for we know that Antonio was put in jail for a year." Colby sat down on top of the desk, took a look through a file.

David added, shaking his finger. "Yeah, and Andrea took Charlee and ran."

"Or maybe, Joe Carlos doesn't do mistakes."

"Kind of like, two strikes and you're out?" Suggesting, Colby shrugged. Without looking up, he flipped through another page then closed the file.

"Yeah…maybe. But I'm thinking more along the lines of: the more mistakes on his account, the more exposed his plan is. I mean…he knew that his granddaughter disappearing on his watch was enough of a risk for someone to eventually find out." Standing up, Don brought photos and rap sheet of Rex and Talbert.

"Which we know did happen eventually, when Joe Carlos shot his own wife because she knew his plans, and maybe that he took Charlee…."

"But then why didn't he shoot his son as well?"

"Naturally, Suisan and Joe shared a house, and anything in that house was part his. Now the son on the other hand, has a different address and lives in a different house." Don rubbed his forehead, as if something wasn't adding up. "Hey, did you guys ever talk to Suisan Carlos?"

Shaking his head, Colby stood up. He was trying to make sense of this. "No, she woke up for a few minutes before we got there, but then was asleep for the remainder of our visit. There was no getting anything out of her."

"Well, it's a new day. Why don't you and David go over there and see if you can get something?"Colby and David both nodded and started heading out the door.

David knocked on the hospital door about thirty minutes later. "Knock knock. Mind if we come in?" Suisan Carlos was sitting up in bed, flipping through a magazine.

She looked up with a grim look on her face. "Depends on who I'm talking to."

Walking into the room, Colby stood beside him. Suisan looked much better than yesterday. "My name is Agent Sinclair, and this is Agent Granger. Mind if we ask you a few questions?"

"Ah, my son told me that you might be stopping by. How can I help you?" She put the magazine on her lap.

"We have a few questions regarding your husband."

"Anything you need, Agent Sinclair." Lifting her hands up, she stuck them back by her side. "I don't owe my husband anything for shooting me."

Flipping to a new page in his notebook, Colby also prepared to write. "Let's just start with what you do know."

Suisan hesitated momentarily as she adjusted slowly in bed. "I overheard my husband talking on phone about how Antonio had messed up. How he sent some people to go pick up Charlie to cover his mistake—"

Colby and David exchanged glances, to which Colby closed his notebook with a nod and went out the door with his cell phone in hand.

"And this all happened yesterday morning?"

"Yeah . . . he didn't hear me, until I started to back away from the hall. I accidently stepped on the creaky board." She shook her head with a half laugh "The board I asked my husband to replace many times."

"But he never did."

"No. I turned to run and got to the bedroom. I closed the door and locked it. I was planning to escape out the window when I forget there was key on the ledge on the top of the door. It wasn't hard for him to reach at all, so I opened the window up as if I were going outside and then ran underneath the bed."

"To make it look like you had gone out the window.

"Right. There's a corner of the house and then a forest like area behind our house that I planned on escaping to, and then I was going to run around to the nearest neighbor and call the police. That's when he found me, dragged me out and shot me."

"Okay. Did he happen to mention a name before your husband came after you?"

"He was talking to someone about two brothers who were supposed to pick up Nadia again, but they never showed up after going to pick her up."

David wrote something down with interest. "Thanks for your help. I think that's all we need for now, but if you think of anything—" David reached into his pocket, pulled out a card and handed it to her. "—let us know."


	23. Codes and Things

Don walked into the interrogation room, and flipped a file onto the table. Rex sat there across from him with a smirk on his face. "Brought me a present?"

"How about one count of kidnapping and a kidnapping charge on your record?" The man's grin went from bright and happy, and then faded as it all sunk in. He breathed out, rubbing his left hand over his spiky brown hair. He squinted, "You can't prove anything."

"Actually, I have a witness that can place you being the ones who took Charlee. Unless you can think of any other brothers who work with Joe Carlos."

With a half shake of his head, Rex offered. "Okay...I'll give you that. My brother and I, we got a call the day before."

"From who?"

He linked his finger together, despite that he was cuffed. "Joe Carlos. He had us pick up Charlee a little ways from the park so that we weren't seen. We quickly put a bandana on her mouth so she wouldn't scream and then loaded her into the car."

"That's it? You just loaded her up and then bam, you're done?" Don raised his voice a bit.

"It seems a little too easy, but there weren't that many people around that area."

"And so what, you just picked her up and kept her?"

"Yeah. He had us go to an old warehouse until everything died down. That little girl—" He closed his eyes as if he were recalling a deep memory. "was so scared. I thought that someone was going to hear us, and then I remembered that Joe had us put her in a place that no one would have ever thought to."

"And then somewhere between there we know he gave her to Antonio Harrison. How did that work again?" Squinting, Don set the chair down harder than usual, then sat down.

"Joe. He said he was going to meet up someone before heading home."

"Any idea who this person is?" Don asked, not sure if he should believe this guy. He had lied to them before, or at least he wasn't willing to give up any of the information until he had mentioned that they could link both him and his brother to kidnapping Charlee.

Rex shook his head, before deciding to speak, also holding his hand up in surrender. "No, I swear to you, that's all he told us to do."

"And then when he asked you to pick up Charlee again?"

He looked up at Don with a certain look in his eye. "Joe Carlos doesn't do mistakes. He was more than angry that he had placed his granddaughter in a home where she could witness violence, or the parents splitting up."Without another word, Don stood up and walked out of the room. "Hey! Don't I get something for helping you out?" Rex called loudly after him. But it was too late: the door had already closed."

* * *

It was about noon when Megan heard little footsteps padding into the kitchen. She stopped midway from cooking an egg on the stove with a spatula in her hand and turned around. "Hey Charlee."She tried to sound cheery, even though it had been a long night.

The young girl, her hair tussled and smoothed back from countless hours of a wet washcloth being run over her forehead. She was rubbing at her eyes, as she had just barely woken up and got up to go look for her.

Megan put the spatula on a paper towel after noticing the glint of tears in Charlee's eyes. "Hey, did you have a bad dream?" The young girl shook her head and kept rubbing her eyes as she got nearer and nearer to Megan.

"No…" Her voice came out wavering, bordering on a breakdown of tears. Megan knelt down beside her.

"Then what happened?" Megan swallowed, concern knowing that this little girl had been through so much.

Charlee stayed silent; a single tear now straying down her cheek. Megan grabbed her hand lightly and led her over to the table. She sat down, putting Charlee in her lap and wrapped her arms around her, rocking her back and forth. The little girl sat there for a few minutes; her body swaying back and forth before she let her head rest near Megan's shoulder.

It was silent between them as she finally moved her hand over Megan's. "My mom used to rock me like this." There was a happy note in her voice, but also an underlining sadness. She turned to gaze at Megan with a sideward glance.

"Charlee, your mom—she loved you very much." The thought that Andrea wasn't her mom, kept coming into her mind. A little whisper kept telling her, _"you have to tell her. You can't keep this a secret. She's going to find out, sooner or later."_

"Megan?" Charlee's voice broke her thoughts. As fast as those thoughts had come they had come, they had disappeared. "What's wrong?" Her little hand stroked her cheek.

Her heart swelled at her touch that Megan put her hand over hers and immediately had to hold back the tears. It must be the hormones. "I was just thinking—"

"About what?" She asked curiously, swiping away a tear from her cheek.

"It's complicated. Something I'm not sure I could explain right now."

"But you look sad."

"Charlee—"

"Oh." Charlee looked away sadly, sighing as she picked at imaginary dirt underneath her fingers. "Mommy always used that voice when she didn't want me asking-"

The way she said it and then trailed off, almost causing the hairs on the back of Megan's neck to stand up. "Asking about what Charlee?"

The little girl shook her head, suddenly quiet. "Nothing. Forget I even asked." With that she climbed off Megan's lap and trailed into the kitchen.

Megan followed a few minutes later. Charlee was sitting at the table drawing. Larry took in her expression: drawn, worn and saddened. They both eyed Charlee, who was sitting at the table, drawing on a white piece of paper with a pen. "Well, I take it that didn't as well as you wanted."

"No." Her eyes bounced back to Charlee, then his. "I keep getting the feeling that she wants to let it all out." Charlee looked over and Megan lowered her voice, even further. "But something is stopping her—"

"Perhaps, she thinks what is lost cannot be found."

She changed her stance, putting one foot in front of the other. "Maybe." Megan looked at her watch and groaned. "I almost forgot that I have a doctor's appointment today. Do you mind—because I can call Don." Charlee was busy scribbling something on the paper.

Larry shrugged. "I'm teaching with Charles at three." Megan smiled and kissed him on the cheek. Sighing, she went over and stood by the table, sitting down when Charlee didn't look up.

"I need to leave for a little while." The little girl continued to color. "But I'll be back later." Still not saying a word, Megan got up and started heading for the door.

"Meadow." The word rushed out, as the crayon dropped on the table.

"What meadow, Charlee?"

"You told me to pick a code word, so I choose _meadow_." She offered, picking up the crayon again.

* * *

A half hour after that, Megan arrived at Dr. Meyers' office. It was just one floor down from her last visit here at the hospital. "Sorry it took so long for us to get back to you." The doctor apologized while she went over the chart. Her blue eyes sparked with admiration for the love of her job as a doctor; her blonde, shoulder length curls bounced as she moved easily around the room.

"Not really a problem." Megan observed her as the room got quiet again. Dr. Meyers' smiled, then pulled up a stool. It took her a few more minutes to continue as she read over a few more things, before closing the chart.

"Megan, do you happen to know when your last period was was?"

It took a few minutes before she recalled the time. It had been when a huge break on the Valdez case at work. The morning had not been so great. Pulling an all-nighter would have been the perfect excuse for tempers flying—but Megan knew the all too familiar cramps were a signal that it was something different. "I think it was around the seventh."

"Of which month?"

"April." Megan responded. Dr. Meyer grabbed the chart from her lap, and a pen from her coat pocket; quickly writing something down.

"And since that time, how have you been feeling?"

"Surprisingly, pretty good. A little fatigued at times."

She nodded once in response. "When I was talking with Dr. Erickson, she said she works with you at the YMCA?"

"Yeah, I'm there a couple days a week, actually. Whenever I can fit some time in because of my job, I teach there more often."

"Well, I would definitely take it easy, now that you know that you're pregnant. Any previous pregnancies? Abortions?"

The thought was painful enough to think about, even though Megan felt like she was reliving it every day since that moment when she held her tiny son in her arms. "Five years ago. I was six months pregnant and ended up going into early labor. The doctor back in Oklahoma ended up delivering him, just after the sixth month mark."

Their eyes met—unshed tears clashed with sympathy. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this pregnancy goes according to plan this time. So why don't you lie back and let's see what we have here."


	24. Not Without a Fight Part I

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just realized that chapter twenty-four and twenty five somehow were duplicates, so this is just me republishing them. And then I realized after deleting them that there's a nifty button to move the chapters around. Go figure.

* * *

Megan walked into the house a couple hours later. She felt a little more at ease in her heart about the child that she was carrying, yet her heart was still heavy; about Charlee, her father, her son, and her past.

She had sat in the parking lot for at least ten minutes trying to process everything. Five years, it had taken her to find happiness again. Really, it had started with when she had run away from home. If she hadn't, she couldn't have imagined that she would have pursued joining the FBI as quickly as she did, but five years ago she had been working in Ohio and her heart had been broken when they had decided to break off the engagement after burying their son.

And now that she was with Larry, It scared her being in this moment again. Somewhere deep inside her heart knew that she wanted to be a mother. She had been both nervous and excited at the same time, just like she was now. In fact to her, this moment almost felt like déjà vu. But she knew that despite her excitement, it could all be lost in a moment.

It had been five years and Max would have been the same age as Charlee was now. She hadn't really been around many five year olds, but since Charlee had arrived a couple days ago, she had plenty of time to sit up at night and think about what he would have been like if he had been alive today. Fact was, she could only imagine that with her ex-fiancé's smarts and hers, she could only imagine that Max would have been a lot like Charlee.

So maybe that's why she felt so strongly about holding onto Charlee so tightly and didn't want her to leave—maybe a part of her past was being relived in a different form. Yet this whole moment felt so bittersweet and vile at the same time. Just like her son being buried into the ground was untouchable, so was Charlee.

She had a mother, a father—heck, even siblings. Megan had read the file over and over again in her spare time and had pretty much memorized the words that had been written years ago. Words like _'kidnapped' _were now replaced by 'safe and wanted' at least in her mind they were.

Megan shook her head. Max would be almost six years old in October, almost the same age as Charlee. She wandered if he were still alive today, would he be like her?

A laugh came from the kitchen, and the door swung open before she could answer her own question. A tear ran down her cheek and she swiped it away with her hand. She forced a smile upon seeing Larry. "Hey, handsome." She sidestepped over and kissed him lightly on the lips. "

He tilted his head expectantly, trying to read her thoughts. "How did everything go?" Whispering, he softly touched her elbow and walked with her.

"I think things went pretty well. I have to admit that I was pretty nervous at first, but—"She trailed off, upon seeing Charlee standing behind him.

"Which is standard." Larry began following her gaze— then stopped talking as he turned towards her.

Clearing her throat, Megan greeted her as she stood behind Larry. "Hey Charlee."

The young girl's eyes were wild with fear, while darting back and forth between the two of them. "It's about earlier isn't it? Megan are you sick? Is that why you were sad earlier?"

Both Larry and Megan exchanged glances and she stepped forward. "No, not exactly" She closed her eyes. This was going to go against everything she had been taught, but the last time she had tried to shut that down, Charlee had almost shut down. "Charlee—"

"And don't tell me it's complicated." She pushed angrily and then sighed. "My mom always said that. "The young girl looked away, swinging her foot. That was the first time that she had mentioned Andrea in the last couple days; besides what she had given her for the case.

"Charlee, go sit down. We need to talk." Megan pointed her towards the couch. Charlee sighed and went straight for the couch and sat down.

"You okay doing this?" Larry inquired as she took in a deep breath.

"Not really. But really, what are my options on this one?" With that she went and sat down next to Charlee.

"You don't want to do this." Charlee offered, reading her mind. No, she didn't really want to do this, but she wanted Charlee to trust her, especially after she told her this.

"Not really Charlee—no, because there's really no easy way to tell you this."

"Tell me what?"

"Do you know why you're here?" Megan started simply, putting her hands in her lap.

"I don't know." She thought about it for a second, and then added. "Well, I was sick and you helped me feel better." She perked up, resting her head against the palm of her hand.

"That's a start. Charlee, your parents—"

"I don't want to talk about them."

"They're alive."

Chiming in, Charlee looked up at her almost startled; her body straightening as she raised her head from against the palm of her hand. "What? But I saw—"

"Come here." Megan prompted, so that the young girl was sitting snug in her lap. She wrapped her arms around her in comfort. "What you saw were two loving people who loved you, but you have other people who love you as well."

"Like my mom and dad." Charlee added, hesitance underlining the tone of her voice.

"And other people."

Charlee tilted her head up towards her. "Like who?"

"Well, for one—I know for a fact that you have a grandma and brothers and sisters." Megan gently tickled her side and Charlee laughed, trying to squirm away.

She thought about it and then brightened up. "Then do I get to live with them, and I don't have to go to foster care?"

Megan pretended to think about it for a moment, in almost a teasing manner. "Yes and yes."

Nodding, Charlee pushed back into her, so her legs were curled up on her leg. "Will I still get to see you?" She offered; her lip almost in a pout.

"Hey, no sad faces, okay?" Megan shook her jaw gently, which made Charlee giggle. "We will definitely be seeing each other. I'll even come and visit."

"Promise?" She stuck out her pinky to her, gazing at her with a sideways glance. Her lips turned with the slightest smile.

Sighing, Megan stuck out her own pinky and wrapped it around Charlee's. "I'm always here for you Charlee, even when it doesn't seem like it—I will always be thinking about you." Not really expecting it, Charlee turned around and wrapped her arms around her neck; holding onto her tightly.

Her face buried into her shoulder, that she almost missed the muffled words, "I love you Megan." that came from her lips.

Tears began to form in her eyes, voice wavering. "I love you too, Charlee." And then pulled her up so they were looking at each other as she cupped her face with her hands. "I don't want you to ever forget how special you are."

Charlee nodded, her pout returning. "What about my other parents?"

"I would like you to think of the fact that they're in a better place right now."

"Like heaven?" Charlee asked curiously, pressing a finger against her lip in thought. "Megan . . . Is my daddy in heaven too?"

Megan winced at Charlee's use of "daddy" for Anthony, when she couldn't think of him more than a monster, an abuser, and a source of pain in this child's innocent life. She swallowed the thought down, knowing that the young girl was waiting for a response. "Yes, I'm sure he's in heaven."

"Good. Now he can't hurt anyone."

It couldn't have been missed—the hurt that flashed through Charlee's expression, even though it lasted momentarily. Megan didn't know what to say to that, but she felt an overwhelming sense of wanting to protect her. "Tell you what. I will make sure to give my number to your parents, and if anyone tries to hurt you, you have them give me a call and you say the word and I will come get you."

"Really?"

"Really. But that means that you're actually going to have to tell them if something happens to you, not keep it all inside here." If making her point, Megan touched her stomach lightly with her finger. "And promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"That you'll draw me lots of pictures to let me know how you're doing? I know you're hurting a lot right now Charlee, but trust me, it doesn't help to keep it all inside."

She looked around shyly, catching Larry's eye as he stood by the stairs— nodding in agreement that Megan was right. "I know. I will. Can I call you to talk?"

"Always."

"Except for we don't call people in the middle of the night, unless it's an emer'gncy."

Megan looked slightly amazed at the smartness of the girl. "Who taught you that?"

"My mom, I guess." Charlee shrugged, looking slightly distant. "Can I go lay down in the guest bedroom? I'm starting to get tired." She stood and brushed her hands over her pants.

"Sure."Megan offered, clearly concerned, but Charlee didn't look back as she scrambled up the stairs and the door closed mildly.

Flipping his phone closed, Colby walked back to where Don and David were sitting. He placed the coffee he had just gotten from the break room, onto his desk and sat down with a sigh. It had been a long day, and Colby could tell that it was just about to get longer, after the phone call he had just received. Don looked at him expectantly.

"We just got a tip on the old antique store that Danny Carlos said his father likes to hang out at."

Don stretched in his chair. "Okay well, why we don't go check it out. Maybe we'll make a lucky break and catch this guy, once and for all."

Colby nodded, standing up and grabbing his coffee. "Anyone talk to Megan lately?"

David shook his head, and Don responded. "I left her a message, letting her know what we found. I'm sure since we cleared Charlee's mom for any involvement in the case, she's supposed to go pick up Charlee when the case is over."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Colby wondered out loud as he pushed the down button for the elevator. It was almost strange how fast time was going by.

David shrugged, putting on his sunglasses. "Her mom has no involvement in this case, so she has got to go back some time."

"And to think it's almost over." Colby mused, taking another sip of his coffee as the doors opened. David and Colby stepped in first. The door closed, they were all quiet as the elevator gravitated downwards and the doors slid open on ground level.

Usually chatting about the case they were on, the enclosed space was completely quiet as the doors finally slid open. There was one things one thing on their minds: to catch Joe Carlos.

There was a distant look in each one of their eyes. Don looked the most concerned; his shoulders squared as he stepped out onto the tile floor. David and Colby followed close behind as they went through the building's metal detector and out into the parking lot.

Fifteen minutes later, they parked directly to the side of the antique store. A gathering crowd had been forced behind the yellow tape. All three drew their guns as they stepped out.

A man in his mid thirties, with short brown hair and amazing green eyes turned around, his hand held out. "Don Eppes. I heard you were on this case."

Don smirked, clasping his hand. "Bill Jones. The last time I saw you, you were lying down on a hospital bed."

"That was a couple years ago." Bill put mildly, looking around the scene.

"My point exactly." Don added in a teasing matter, but something underlining in his words were grim. "Bill Jones, Agents Sinclair and Granger." They both nodded in his direction.

"Six hostage. We're still trying to get a direct line to negotiate before going—" Before he could finish, there was a loud explosion from one of the cars directly parked on the left parking lot of the building. It was far enough that only a couple of trees caught on fire. But it was enough of a warning that Joe Carlos was not coming out without a fight.


	25. Not Without a Fight Part II

Both Megan and Larry watched Charlee scramble up the stairs, without looking back. "I'm worried about her." Megan noted, clearly concerned. She didn't take her eyes off where Charlee had been just minutes before. "I'm worried that she's not taking all of this in. The psychologist in me has every alarm known to man going off in my head right now." She trailed off, by combing her fingers through her hair and ruffling it in frustration.

He thought about it momentarily, the corner of his mouth twitching. Giving a slight shrug, he finally added what he was thinking. "As am I." She was too busy staring at the step that she mistook that he had finished his thought, until he added. "About the both of you. When's the last time you took time to look at the stars?"

She gave the slightest confused smile; turning her body so she was leaning back against the couch now. "I take it you weren't actually looking up at the stars."

"Not in the least."He offered cryptically. "I was merely saying that when one doesn't take the time to look at the beauty that the earth has to bring—one could find them crashing down."

"Sometimes the stars don't have to come crashing down for you to see the beauty." She appointed wisely, before letting out a sigh. "I just think this case has been hard on us all. Charlee, she has to go back home and start all over. She's a smart little girl who has a loving family—"

Tears started welling up in her eyes and she shook it off. "Sorry, probably the hormones."

He shook his head, hooking his finger under her chin so she was looking right at him. "Megan, you never have to be sorry. You've fallen in love with a little girl, who frankly I realize has captured your heart. I don't know whether to be a little jealous." Teasing to lighten the mood, a corner of her lip rose into a smile. He smiled back at her. "Really, you don't have to be strong while in my presence."

Charlee knew that spying wasn't right, but she heard Larry and Megan's muffled voices and curiosity had sneaking out of the guest room. She sat with her back against the wall in the hallway, away from view. She held onto every word that was said. _Hormones? What are those?_Charlee thought to herself, trying to think if mommy had taught her about that word. She thought about it some more, only half listening. Nothing came to mind, so she continued to listen to them talk.

But there was no talking, instead there was crying. Scooting herself slowly to the edge of the step, she peered down to see Megan resting her head on Larry's shoulder. It seemed like an eternity, but the crying came to a stop and Larry was working to move her slowly. Charlee's heart pounded. Her first fear was Megan maybe the hormones killed her. No. She was just asleep. She had to be. Her chest heaved and she went back to the guest room, forgetting to close the door all the way. She would go down later.

Footsteps trailed up a few minutes later and then left. She kept her eyes shut, until the footsteps trailed and the front door closed with a locking noise. When the whole house was silent, she remembered about Megan and got up to look out the window. Larry was trailing down the driveway to his car. She let go of the curtain and trailed downstairs—a little quicker than usual. Charlee rounded the couch and let out a breath when she put her hand on Megan's chest and it moved.

Ever since her mommy and daddy had died, she had been having many nightmares. The last few nights it had been Megan in her dreams, lying there dead. It was just as scary as seeing her mom in that place, but Megan too—made her fear that same fate for her. A shudder went through her small body as she looked around the house. The silence was scary. The clock on the wall was brown—and ticked too. She had never noticed that there before. She whimpered, hearing the creaks in the house. She thought about someone breaking in, and she almost jumped off the recliner to hide; even thought about waking Megan up, but instead yawned and sunk down into the recliner—resting her head on the arm rest. She closed her eyes tightly when she heard another noise. Still nothing. Her hand went up to a blanket that was draped over the top and pulled the blanket down over her. Maybe now they wouldn't find her.

Three hours later, they had made only slight progress. The sun was beating down on all of them and sweat was running down their faces as they tried once again to negotiate in the back of a van that had been set up on the other side of the street. The phone rang, but went to the antique book store answering machine. Don rubbed at his chin in frustration. He had been holding off just storming in there. There was a repeated warning that went through his head that nothing was ever as easy as it seemed. He picked up the phone again. This time he had some success as the phone clicked on the other line.

"If you choose to contact or get near this building again, you be sure that I'll be blowing it up—with me and everyone else in it. That first blow up—"Joe chuckled coldly, breathing into the phone "was just a little preview to what is to come." With those words, the line went dead. The door to the van opened, just as Don had flung his phone against the desk.

Colby climbed into the van, shutting the door behind him. "Barely got a read on the heat sensors. It's either too blasted hot, or he's in a back room barely away from our reach." Don rested both elbows on the desk and pinched the bridge of his nose. "He also had one of the hostages cover the windows so we can't see anything. David's looking through the blueprints to see if there's any way that we could get through."

But that still left going into the building blind. Don shook his head in disagreement and stood. "Something stuck out to me that Carlos mentioned." Colby followed him out into the street, squinting into the bright sunlight. "That the first blow up was just a little preview to what is to come."

"So, he never planned on coming out alive." Adjusting his sunglasses, Colby shrugged, letting the words sink in.

Don stopped between the two police cars that blocked the building and gazed up at the building momentarily, thinking about the conversation on the phone. Something about that conversation just bothered him. _If you choose to contact or get near this building again, you be sure that I'll be blowing it up—with me and everyone else in it. That first blow up— was just a little preview to what is to come._He thought through the conversation one more time; dissected the words, thought about it and the voice that associated with it. There it was: the voice wasn't right. Something kept nagging at him to think further, back to the conversation. He turned back towards Colby. "What if the building was never the intended target?"

Before he could ask further, Colby caught David carrying a blueprint over in their direction. "I think we found a way that we can get into the building without Carlos noticing we're there—"He glanced between Colby, who was glancing over at Don. It was the first time that he noticed their boss was deep in thought. David smiled uncomfortably, almost hesitating to continue as he leaned one hand on the hood of the car. "Why do I get the feeling that we just stepped into something big?" He exchanged a glance with Colby who nodded back.

"Probably because we did." Colby quipped back with all humor, but there was no smile on his expression as he said it. He turned back to the building, considering every person they had talked to in the last week being a possible target.

"The voice on the phone." Don slowly reached for his phone, only reaching empty pockets. He remembered after the phone call; throwing his phone on the desk in the van. He began heading back towards the van, walking with a quickened urgency. "It wasn't Carlos' voice in that building. It was Danny's." He flipped open the door, all three of them piled in. Don had the tech guy who was busily working—repeat the recorded conversation so they could all hear what was said. Once the recording was finished, David chimed in.

"Danny Carlos." He mulled over the familiar name. "Didn't we already clear him as a possible suspect?"

Don waved the thought off with an irritated swipe—not directly answering the question. Now wasn't the time or the place to call attention to the fact that he had missed this. "Lucia did mention something about Danny and Joe having the same hobby with antique book stores."

Nodding in agreement, Colby chimed in. "Sounds like the perfect accomplice to me."

"See if you can get phone records from Danny Carlos' house and compare it to the one we got from Joe Carlos' house and see if there's are any familiar numbers that could connect the both of them together in this."

David nodded, stopping in his tracks. "You think he was the one Carlos was talking to when Suisan was listening in on and at the park?"

Nodding once Don rubbed at his face tiredly. One hand holding the earphone towards his ear, he pressed at the stop button and set earphones on the desk. "Go and get a warrant, see if you can pin anything that would connect both Joe and Danny together. Also check any phone records and compare them—"

"To the ones we found at Joe Carlos' house. I'm already on it." David started heading towards the door with Colby in tow. "Hey Don, if Danny Carlos is in that building where is Joe Carlos at? And better off, who's he planning on targeting?"

Don stood up, put his phone back into his pocket and followed them outside the van. "I think I have a pretty good idea on who he might be targeting, but I plan on finding out for sure." Grabbing his keys, he unlocked the door, dialing a number on the phone as he closed his door and started the engine. The phone began to ring, and then went into voicemail. _"Hi, you've reached the voice of Megan Reeves. I'm sorry I can't take your call but if you leave your name and a number, I would be glad to get back to you."_Beep.

"Megan, its Don. If you get this message in the next few minutes, I need you to call me back. I'll explain everything later—I'm on my way." With that he pushed his foot down on the gas and sped off down the street.


	26. In Motion

Her eyes opened slowly, while her ears were trained to the silence in her own home. It was almost an eerie silence, compared to the sereneness that had been there.

Looking around, she noticed the blinking light on her phone, telling her that she had missed one or many calls. The note beside it was probably from Larry, considering that he wasn't sitting beside her any longer. The blanket that had been draped over the chair was now ruffled. Charlee was hiding underneath it, which means something had frightened her. Just like the threat to the untrained eye, Charlee was safe for now; just long enough until the connection clicked that she was there.

Reaching underneath the couch, she slipped her hand underneath into the secret compartment and pulled out her gun. Taking it off the safety lock, Megan crept over to the recliner. "Meadow." Whispering the key word, she saw the blanket move and then Charlee appeared.

The corner of her lips turned up into a relieved smile. "Megan." She whispered, her expression relaxing slightly. Eyes training on the gun, she sat up and gazed back at her. "Did you hear it too?" Megan nodded silently, ear trained towards the kitchen. It was hard to hear at first, but instinct was correct: there were footsteps coming towards them. Charlee gasped, tugging on the corner of her shirt urgently as she helped her down from the recliner.

Megan crouched down, putting her hand down on her shoulder. She hoped that the little girl couldn't hear her heart pounding against her chest. "Just like you did last time. I need you to hide."

Knuckles white, Charlee held onto her shirt even tighter. She shook her head in disagreement. "I want you to come with me." The footsteps grew closer. "Please—just come with me." Standing there looking into her eyes, Megan sighed and relented, following her up the stairs. It was scary how quiet their footsteps were as they went up the stairs. Her gun was trained on the kitchen door as it began to open. In the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the man she never wanted to see and her blood ran cold.

He had caught sight of them too as their pace quickened. A bullet whizzed past them into the wall where they had been just seconds before. Megan shot back and it went into one of the lamps, shattering it with a resounding echo as they went up the stairs. "Come on." Pulling on her hand that she had quickly taken a hold of before departing, Charlee was now tugging on it and they were headed towards the guest room.

In the days that Charlee had been here, she had never willingly gone into the guest room, unless she was tired of the couch. Megan knew that under the bed wasn't an option, but there was no time to turn back now. She pushed open the door and brought them to the closet. At first Megan was a little hesitant, hiding behind a bunch of clothes wouldn't keep them hidden, but then again, when Charlee pushed back the clothes and ushered her to follow, she pried open an old panel; revealing a hidden room.

Forgetting that it was there, they exchanged a glance. A half smile on her lips, it faded as they could hear Joe Carlos stalking around. He even uttered something in the likes of "come out, come out, wherever you are. Grandpa's here now." Megan could just imagine him checking every room; which would definitely buy them a little time, but not for long. Gesturing to her with a wave of her hand, Charlee disappeared.

Covering their tracks, Megan adjusted all the clothes—thanking the fact that she hadn't gone through all her old clothes and given them to the DI yet—and closed the panel. She barely had time to admire the hidden room that she had forgotten about as her eyes focused around until she had found Charlee standing there, near a door. Then Megan realized what was behind that door; an old staircase that led down to her basement. For some reason, that was the only staircase that led down there. It was like a secret part of her house that no one knew about.

Well, almost. Charlee did. And if Joe Carlos found them, then he would too. Sure, she had been trained to kill if she needed to, but he was most certainly trained to kill them as well. And she knew that he wasn't afraid to take any measure to kill him either. His target was Charlee and she wouldn't let that little girl get hurt again, even if it killed her. This was what her training was for. If anything, it all came down to this moment. She wanted a reason to why she stayed so long with the FBI. Why she put herself on the line, time and time again. Well, this was it.

Charlee took a gasp in, trying to catch her breath. "Do you think he'll find us?"

"Not immediately." Megan answered, feeling slightly tired and nauseous. "But Charlee—he's a smart man."

"I guess." Looking away, she stared at the walls that were made up of wood panels. She swallowed hesitantly. "Megan, I don't want you to get killed too."

"Charlee, I will do everything to get us out of here." Hearing a screech of hangers scraping the metal bar, they silenced immediately. Instead of answering Megan took her hand and squeezed it tightly. "Come on, I want to show you something." Opening the door as the scraping got closer, the stairs were filled with darkness, cobwebs and dust clouds.

"What is this place?" Charlee inquired as she went hesitantly walked down a couple of stairs.

"This would be my basement." Scrunching her nose up, her hand brushed against the wooden railing. Megan hung out at the top of the stairs before closing the door and walking down. It definitely felt like a death trap. The only thing the last homeowners hadn't put in, were windows.

She looked up at the dust that had gathered and rubbed her hand against her jeans. "Your basement?" Inquiring, she jumped at the sound of the panel opening. It wouldn't be long before Joe Carlos would be after them.

Megan walked down a few stairs and grabbed her hand and down they went. Reaching another door, she unlocked it and they ran up the stairs to the backyard. Grabbing a few things to stick in front of the door, she instructed. "This time, I really need you to run Charlee."

"No . . . I'm not leaving you!" Charlee answered fearfully; hands clamped together tightly. A chill ran through her body as her breathing increasing rapidly. At this rate, the young girl was going to hyperventilate. Finishing the blockage on the door, Megan bent down again. "I don't want you to die!"

"Charlee, you need to breathe. I'm not going to leave you—ever." Running her hands through Charlee's hair, Megan noticed sweat running down her face. Haven't given it a second thought, at touch, she could now tell that the young girl was definitely feverish. For how long, she didn't know because she looked like she was fine, just a little while ago. "You're burning up!" Megan muttering to herself as she felt her cheeks and they were just as warm.

"Megan, I don't feel so good." Beginning to fidget, Megan took her into her arms. "I . . . don't want to die!"

"I'm not going to let anyone harm you ever again. You've been so brave and I need you to be brave for just a little while longer. Think you can do that for me?"

Her head rolled back so she was looking up at her, and Charlee nodded, close to tears. As she squeezed her eyes shut, a tear slipped down her cheek. "I think I can . . . I think I can."

The corner of Megan's lips turned up into a smile as she wiped away the tear and picked her up in her arms. "That's my girl." Beginning to head through the few trees that broke her backyard and her neighbor's Megan began walking at a quickened pace, then at a run when there was a rattling sound at the door. Slipping through the trees at an increased run, she heard the door finally break free, just as she passed into her neighbor's backyard; then gunfire broke out, but she realized it wasn't directed at them.

The missed calls on her phone must have been from Don, warning her about Joe Carlos coming after Charlee. The little girl in her arms was the last witness to his crimes, and now she could only hope that in one of those gun shots that rang through the air would end all of this—for the sake of Charlee, she didn't need to be hurt any longer. Or feel this afraid—for she had been through a lot more than the average human being would go through.

Looking down at her, Charlee was now still; eyes still closed. Megan knew that her body had physical limits, now that she was pregnant, but she was going to get Charlee as far away as possible. "Hang in there, Charlee." Swallowing the bile that was rising to her throat, she was increasingly losing strength.

"I think I can." Charlee mumbled tiredly, which made Megan quicken her pace slightly. Charlee was hanging in there, and so could she. Finally after a few minutes, they came in view of a kitchen window. She saw movement and caught sight of her neighbor. They exchanged a glance and soon the door opened. Her eyes widened at the gun in Megan's hand.

"Trouble in paradise?" She asked to break the tension.

Megan paused to catch her breath, looking at her tiredly. "Something like that." It was getting harder to walk and she knew that something was wrong. Apparently her neighbor saw that as well and took Charlee from her arms.

Her neighbor was a black belt in Krav Maga, and a FBI agent—yet Megan looked like she had just been hit by a steam roller. The thought was concerning. "Let's get you into the house." With that she ushered them in, taking a look around once, she made Megan go into the house and followed with the young girl before closing the door. Those same trees that Megan had brought Charlee through just moments before, began to rustle. It seems like someone had been following them after all.


	27. End of the Line

After the first time that Megan hadn't answered his phone, he felt his stomach drop and immediately called for backup. He drove into the semi-familiar area that she lived in and swerved the car into a vertical stop and got out; almost forgetting to tear the keys out of the ignition. He drew his gun, and rounded around the house, just in time to see Megan fleeing and Joe Carlos following after them.

Don got a new drive as he pressed his feet quietly into the ground and followed behind. After a few moments, realizing that he was catching up to them, Don gave a warning shot into some of the trees and Joe Carlos turned to him with a loaded gun, and flashed him a wicked smile. Don looked confident, steadying his breath. "The next one you won't be so lucky." His gun was already trained on him.

"Don Eppes." Joe answered smugly, his finger slowly moving towards the trigger.

Gripping his gun even tighter, Don extended his hand out so that his gun was trained to the man's heart. He had to stop his instinct to shoot him right then and there. For all the torment that he had caused: this man deserved to die. "Give me a reason not to shoot you."

In all his years at the FBI, Don hadn't seen a suspect to smug—so proud and not afraid to kill again. "Yes, very good. I see you've got your gun trained to my heart." Don said nothing, but shifted his stance slightly. Joe laughed proudly. "You didn't think I would come alone, did you?" If his intent was to get him to look away, even for a moment, Don instead trained himself to listen to the silence, eyes still fully boring into his.

They stood in silence for a moment before Don added."It's better that you put your gun down now."

Joe laughed again, giving a look of distaste upon hearing sirens growing closer. "I do have to give you credit for figuring it all out—but you can't expect me to give in that easily, now can you?

"I wasn't expecting that you would." Coyly, he kept his gun pointed at Joe. "I have all day."

The smugness returned. "You may have all day, Agent Eppes, but your agent and the girl don't—" He shrugged mockingly. "—sorry to say." Don could feel his anger rising, his fingers definitely ready to pull the trigger. It took every ounce of strength to not let one of the bullets in his gun hit Joe with a direct hit that would stop this man from breathing. Nobody, nobody threatens his team—ever! "Ah, now it's coming to you, isn't it? The man really wasn't joking when he said he wasn't alone. Can't you see that it's not you that I want?"

Don could now feel his blood was boiling, not to mention the way he said it, had the hair on the back of his neck standing up. But the heavy sound of sirens in front of the house, put satisfaction in all of this. Within seconds, agents had their guns trained on Joe Carlos. He was mentally counting how many officers had their guns trained on him. "Twelve against one. Now you know that's not fair."

"Yeah? Well neither is this." Don aimed him gun down and shot down at Joe Carlos leg. The man recoiled at the pain, dropping the gun in the process and falling to the ground. Smiling, Don picked up the gun and handed it to one of the agents, before whispering in his ear, "Now who's playing fair?" Gesturing for the agent cuffing him to take him away, Don sighed heavily, turning to another agent, named Joan Taylor. She called over her partner, Agent Tucker Morgan. Don informed them on what Joe Carlos had told him. "He's not acting alone." Then gestured the agents to follow as they made their ways as quietly as they could through the trees. Weapons trained to any movement.

As they were walking they heard some rustling, and saw that it was just a few birds that had made their nest in the trees—but as they were getting to a clearing they saw a man, headed sneaking towards the back of the house. Sandy blond hair, quite muscular and clearly there to get the job finished. Don issued for Taylor to check in the other direction while they took a direct hit. Don cocked his gun at his head a few moments. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man's hand was almost on the door, when his hands flew up over his head; a weapon similar to what Carlos had on him.

"Whoa." Agent Malone quickly took the gun and Don handcuffed him. " I wasn't going to do anything."

"Sure you weren't." Malone muttered, taking him away quickly. Don walked up the steps and motioned for Agent Taylor to keep eyes on the door, while he went in first. They were taken into a small washroom that broke off into to a bathroom. Checking it over, Taylor cleared it and they moved on into a hall. They went on to clear each room, and stopped when they got to the stairs.

"I'm fine, Sally." Megan stood up from her place on the couch a few moments later. The floor creaked and Megan cocked her gun over in their direction. Don and Agent Taylor rounded the corner and Megan put her gun down back by her side. "Don."

"You know him?" Sally inquired, looking quite startled. She was sitting protectively near Charlee, turning around the wet cloth and dipping it back in the bowl of water and wrung it out.

Megan introduced them to one other. "My boss, Don Eppes. Don, Sally Foster—my next door neighbor."

Her eyes flickered up to meet his. "It's nice to finally meet you. How'd you get in here?"

"Your back door was unlocked."

Looking slightly mortified, she shook her head. "I don't usually leave my doors unlocked."

Stepping in Megan filled him in. "Sally's husband just deployed to Afghanistan. How did you know that we were in here?"

"Carlos had someone else following you." Don offered, gesturing towards the couch." How's Charlee doing?"

Sally watched them quietly, knowing a little something about top secret work. "Megan, can you take over?" She asked, upon hearing a baby's cry on the monitor. Nodding, Megan sat down on the edge of the coffee table.

Putting the back of her hand against Charlee's forehead, she frowned. Reaching over for the thermometer, Megan inserted it into her ear. "Her temperature has started to go down, but she's developed another fever that pretty much had her pretty panicking on the way over here. Did I mention my neighbor was a nurse?"

Don gave her a relieved smile. "How are you doing?"

"You know, I'm not really sure anymore. Considering how this week has been." Megan offered tiredly, dipping the washcloth into the bowl and wrung it out again. Charlee groaned slightly when the coolness touched her skin.

"Yeah, I understand that one." Running his fingers through his hair, Don figured that he should fill her in, while they were alone. "Colby and David were checking over phone records again when I left, in order to connect Danny Carlos to the kidnapping of Charlee."

She exchanged a surprised glance with him before Charlee's eyes fluttered open. "Megan?" Then her eyes flickered over to Don's and she smiled wearily. The fever had clearly taken a toll on her. "Don?"

"Hey Charlee." Don greeted. "Megan told me that you haven't been feeling too good." He sat down on the edge of the couch and smiled down at her.

"I don't get it." Charlee furrowed her brow in confusion. Don opened his mouth, mirroring his own confusion.

"There were bad guys chasing after us." Charlee's eyes widened as she tried to sit up. "They're going to—"

Don shook his head, pushing her back down. "Whoa, slow down. No one is going to get you, ever again."

"Charlee" Megan soothed, "What Don is trying to say is that he caught the men that were responsible."

"Respons'ble?"

Megan pushed some stray hairs behind her face. "You're safe now." A smile broke through and Charlee wrapped her little arms tightly around her neck.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: One chapter left to write and then it's the end of this journey for now ;)


	28. Love Is Waiting

Handcuffing a suspect after a long case was one of the best feelings in the world. Colby and David had returned just in time to take the suspect, Danny Carlos into custody. It took all power not to knock his head on the inside of the door while putting him into the black SVU.

They had gotten a call from Don while on the way back to the office, who filled them in on Joe Carlos' plan to kill Charlee while in the custody of Megan. They were both relieved to hear that they were both of them were okay.

Both Megan and Charlee had gone to the hospital to get checked out, but they would be coming by in a few hours, as well as Lucia and the social worker. She was going to be making sure that Charlee was well adjusted and nothing else was going on after being placed in the home.

Don sat down with a sigh, leaning back in his seat. Usually he would get working on the paperwork that had been piling up since they had taken this case, but he just couldn't get his hands to move.

He looked over at Megan's desk, unoccupied and not yet empty. His thoughts consisted of how things had changed so dramatically, at least in the last year.

Megan wouldn't talk about her assignment, but she had kicked some serious butt during and after finding out that Colby was a Chinese spy. There was a reason that she was one of the best that he had worked with.

Colby wouldn't talk a lot about being a spy, but he was a lot more open about his feelings. That right there had been the hardest when he had returned and David wouldn't talk to him. They had been partners and it had taken a long time to bring back the unity.

The thought was quite amusing—although he would never admit it—that he could lock them all up a closet, right about now. The elevator ding brought him out of his thoughts as Colby and David walked across the room.

When they sat down, David was the first to speak. "We were able to connect Danny to the crime indefinitely. We won't be seeing either of them getting out any time soon." Opening up a file, he took a pen from his desk drawer.

Colby raised his brow, leaning back in his chair. "Got to admit, this was quite the case. I could use a beer right about now."

"Same here. You're still coming to dinner tonight?" Inquiring, he nodded over to David and then over to Colby.

"I have no objection over being served dinner. That is something that I would never pass up." David mused, looking up from writing something in the file. "That is, as long as Charlie isn't making pancakes."

"Amen to that." Colby nodded, reaching into his desk for something, but ended up pulling out a picture of the three of them. It got silent as he reflected on the picture; eyes flickering over to Megan's desk, and then he finally placed the frame on his desk.

"You got a secret girlfriend that we don't know about, Granger?" David teased, nodding over for him to toss the frame over.

"No secret girlfriend –" He griped the frame and turned it around so David could see it, then handed it over.

"Ah, now that one I will never forget. David offered, chuckling. You thought it would be funny to nail Megan with a water balloon, but little did you know that she would come back and dunk you in a pile of mud."

"Yeah." Colby shook his head to rid the thought of being dunked. He could still feel her swiping his foot from underneath him and him falling back first into the mud. Needless to say, his whole head had been encrusted with mud for the rest of the game. "If it wasn't embarrassing enough that I had to play the rest of the game, looking like a mud head."

That got a good chuckle, just as the elevator ding echoed throughout the office. But the occupants turned out to agents who were coming back up the office and busily scattering back to their offices to work.

David handed back the frame and Colby the frame, before Don leaded forward in his chair and chimed in. "Maybe that should become your nickname." The elevator doors let out another ding and opened; out stepped Megan and Charlee.

"And if it isn't the woman of the hour." David gestured over to Charlee who was holding tightly onto Megan's hand. Both Colby and Don turned around in their chairs and followed his line of sight.

Don squinted down at his watch, making sure that he was reading the correct time, then looked back to see Charlee running towards them. "They weren't supposed to be here for at least another half an hour."

"Well, they're here now." David offered, smiling as Charlee practically hopped into his lap. She reached into her pocket, talking past the sucker in her mouth. "David, I have something for you."

"Looks like someone is feeling better."

"Uh huh." Charlee nodded, putting the sucker into his hand.

He looked down, quite surprised that she would remember, since she had been half sick at the time. "A sucker? For me?"

"Yep."

"Red." Pulling off the wrapper, he stuck it into his mouth to taste it. "Cherry, my favorite!" That made Charlee grin happily, followed by a giggle.

"Hey Megan, you're here early." Don checked his watch again. Only a few minutes had passed.

"Yeah, the doctor that checked us over was pretty quick and thorough." She gestured over towards Charlee, who was happily chatting with David. "He thinks that Charlee has an infection as well as some kind of bug, and immediately put her on some kind of antibiotic." They both watched her interact with David.

"Looks like it's working." Chiming in, Colby looked over from stacking the files on his desk into two piles.

"She should. We got a ride back to the house to pick up Charlee's things and she slept on the way here. Let's just say that she was pretty excited to give David his sucker."

"I'm surprised that she remembered." David broke through, biting through the sucker and throwing the stick into the garbage.

Charlee tipped her head up to him, touching his cheek with her hand. "That was fast." David smiled down at her. "David?"

"Yeah, Charlee."

She took the sucker out of her mouth, hopped down and turned around. "Megan said that my mommy is coming to see me."Charlee looked contemplative. "Is she nice?"

Megan stepped forward, so she was standing right next to Don. David turned her around, so that she was sitting sideways on his thigh.

David nodded, glancing back up at Megan. "I met your mom, and she loves you very much that her heart was broken when she lost you."

Her little nose scrunched up. "It did?"

"Charlee?" A new voice broke in, eager and hesitant. Megan stepped aside to reveal Lucia and the social worker, standing there behind them. Lucia was dressed in a dark maroon shirt, and black jeans; tears filled her eyes. Hopping down, she held onto David's knee. "Is that my Mommy?"

Lucia had darker skin, black curly hair and nine months pregnant. She nodded, a tear falling down her cheek. "It's really you! I can't believe it's really my little girl." Putting her hand to her mouth in disbelief, she stood there in shock. "You're really alive."

Bravely, Charlee walked over to her and grasped Lucia's hand. "You're really my mommy?"

Lucia nodded. "I am."

"What's your real name?" Charlee inquired curiously, as her hand tightened around Lucia's.

"Lucia."

"That's a pretty name." Looking at her uneasily, Charlee looked over at Megan who flashed her an encouraging smile. "Um."

They all watched the two of them interact for a few minutes, before the social worker introduced herself."I'm Kelsey Manders, from LA Social services." A woman in her mid forties with jet black, curly hair and was neatly placed in a ponytail; high cheek bones and black rimmed glasses that accentuated her green eyes.

She shook Kelsey's hand, while keeping one eye on Charlee. "Megan Reeves. This is Colby Granger, David Sinclair and our boss, Don Eppes." Each of them gave their greeting, and Kelsey turned towards Charlee and Lucia.

"She's quite the little girl, isn't she?"

"More than you know." Colby responded, rubbing his hand underneath his chin. She flashed Colby a gentle smile—that more or less could be deciphered as flirting. Megan looked over at them and gently cleared her throat, a wicked smile on her face.

"Smart that's for sure." Don added, standing up from his chair, relaxing a little, but they could all tell that something was on his mind. "I'm going to get some coffee."

David took that as a cue and stood up as well. "I could use some of that as well. It's been a long day." He followed Don into the break room and as soon as Kelsey went over to talk with Lucia and Charlee.

Megan walked up to him with a water bottle in hand. Tapping his shoulder lightly, she smiled. "Hey Granger, I think she likes you."

"You think? Was it that obvious?"

Shaking her head in disbelief, her tone took on a more teasing manner. "Obvious doesn't even start to cut it." They looked over at Kelsey, who gazed over at him with sparkling green eyes. Megan shot him another wicked smile, patting his shoulder. "Oh, she definitely likes you."

He grinned back, "I don't know, the last time you set me up on a date—it didn't quite work out."

She took another sip. "Who said I was setting you up on a date, Granger?" Megan mused quietly, watching Charlee who kept throwing glances in her direction. Don and David returned with piping hot coffee. Megan took in the smells and walked over to Charlee.

It smelled so good and Megan was definitely feeling like she was going through withdrawals, now that she was pregnant and couldn't have any. Until she and Larry announced it all tonight, it was best to avoid any questions or comments before then.

Charlee's hand slipped into hers, and she felt the little girl relax considerably. Before long, Charlee was tugging on her shirt; trying not to cry, her voice wavered. "Megan?"

Her smile faded, expression filled with concern as she wiped a stray tear from underneath Charlee's eye. She bent down to her level, even though it brought on a slightly nauseous feeling from the pit of her stomach.

She looked scared as Charlee asked the question. "Do I have to leave right now?" Megan gazed over at Lucia and Kelsey, who were apparently having a very deep conversation.

"Not just yet. We're going to talk for a little while, then you have some people that I'm sure will want to see you before you leave."

Looking around, her gaze fell upon the people in the room, before nodding shortly. "How many brothers and sisters do I have?"

"I don't know, Charlee."

"Oh."

"But I know one person who would know the answer—" Megan looked up; Charlee followed her line of sight and perked up.

"My mom." She spoke up quietly, leaning into her. "Will you come with me?" As they were walking over, the elevator door opened and she caught a familiar sight. "Larry!" Charlee said quite loudly, pointing over towards the elevators.

By the looks of it, he was explaining something to Charlie, almost in a rushed manner as they stepped out of the elevator; not to mention that he looked quite anxious.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Charlee asked her when she made no move to go see him. She broke her hand from hers and gave her a little shove.

She walked across the room, meeting them in the middle. "Megan." Charlie offered in greeting, patting her on the shoulder and then excusing himself to go talk to the rest of the team.

"Charles informed me that you had called." Larry stroked her cheek gently. "I should have never left you. I'm afraid that I've almost lost you quite a few times now."

Megan smiled softly. "I don't think I've been so scared in my life. It's one thing to be out in the field, but in my own home—and if you had been there and anything had happened to you, I don't think I would be able to live with myself."

"I know that I couldn't live without you either." Leaning in, she kissed him lightly on the lips, before staring into his eyes. "Your eyes are quite intriguing, like the stars up in the sky." He mused, looking over at everyone else. "It seems that we have an audience."

"I think Charlee would be glad to see you again."

"How is she?"

Shrugging, she locked her arm around his as they walked over. "Scared. Her mom just came with the social worker about ten minutes ago."

"It's only natural that she feel that way. She's probably been through more than an average adult goes through in a lifetime."

She turned around to face him. "Most six years don't even go through something like this, ever."

He nodded, holding her safely in his grasp. "And how are you? Charles said that you were able to go to a nearby neighbor's house."

"Yeah, my neighbor's a nurse. I had to keep reassuring her that I was okay. I told her that I was pregnant, which was cause for looking like death." Megan grinned, and he grinned back.

"I suppose it could have been worse." He shrugged absently. "Shall, we continue?" His gaze fell back on the team. Charlee was now sitting back on David's lap, talking to Don and Colby. Laughing, Megan nodded her response and they moved forward.

"Peter piper, picked a bunch of peppers?" Charlee inquired, scrunching her nose up again.

"Close enough." Don leaned forward and ruffled her hair a little.

"Hey." She scowled, with a smile. "Megan? Is he allowed to do that?"

"Only if you can do it back."

Charlee thought about it for a moment, smiling over at Don who was placing some files in a box. "He's the boss though, right Megan?"

"Right. Well, the boss of this division."

"What's a division?"

"This floor that we're on is one place that he's the boss of."

"Oh, I think I get it. So he only takes care of the people that work here."

"Pretty much, just like that." Agreeing, Don watched as she hopped off David's leg and walked up to Larry, studying him long and hard before deciding what she wanted to say to him. "I wish you could tell me more stories about the stars."

"Ah, but remember, stars will always get their chance to shine."

Silence came between them as she piped up again. Megan could see the wheels turning in her head. "Can we be stars?"

"No, I'm afraid that we can't actually become stars."

Charlee looked confused, pouting slightly. "But you said the stars remind you of Megan." Both Larry and Megan exchanged a glance of admiration. ""

"The stars merely help me think of her whenever we are apart."

"Oh."

Kelsey turned to Lucia, letting out a deep breath. "I guess it's time that we get you off your feet. I'm sure you want to be able to get Charlee settled in as well."

"I think that's probably a good idea. I'm supposed to call my husband—Charlee's father, at work after I picked her up. I have all the kids staying my sister-in-law's house so we can take a little time to get to know her first before introducing her to everyone. Including this little one right here." She rubbed her stomach in circles.

Megan smiled, looking down to see an empty spot where Charlee had been standing, just moments before. "Charlee." Megan warned, looking around; finally David spotted her running towards the elevators.

She caught up to her, just as the elevator doors began to close. "Going somewhere?" Charlee relented and slid to the floor, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"What if I don't want to go with her?"

"You know, sometimes we all have to do things that we don't want to do. And for you, this is one of those times."

"But I don't want to go!" Charlee exclaimed. "I don't want to go anywhere."

"Tell you what." Megan reached into her pocket and pulled out her car keys. "I have my keys, so we could probably go get your belongings—and maybe go take a short ride."

Charlee looked up, tear streaks on her face. "Really?"

Megan smiled back at her, standing and holding out hand. "Really. I'll text Don to let him know where we're at. But Charlee, it's only a short ride."

"Okay." Charlee took her hand and stood up, brushing off her pants. "Can I push the button?" Megan nodded, and Charlee walked over and hesitated. "Wait, which one do I push? There's so many!"

"The very last button." Megan pointed, finishing the text to Don and put the phone back in her pocket. _"Taking Charlee for a short ride. It seems as if she got cold feet and tried to escape. Will meet you all downstairs in fifteen."_

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Okay, so after spending at least two days of writing this chapter, I realize that I'm going to have to split this up into two, since this chapter is already almost up to 3,000 words. There are still goodbyes to be had as well as a dinner too.


	29. Where the Story Ends

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Well this it is: the last and final chapter. I've been working on it for-well actually, I've lost count to how many actual days I've been striving for patience and writing bits and pieces; knocking out scene by scene that I wanted to write for this final chapter. I'm glad to not have to tell myself anymore that today will be the day that I will finish it.

Thank you to who have read 'Wherever You Will' and have been so patient, through the long pauses and the writer's block; to those who just came in, and especially to those who have reviewed. I bet you're just as glad as I' am that I've finally finished this story. Once last thing, Please remember to review. Until next time ;)

* * *

"Thank you so much for everything that you've guys have done for Charlee and for our family." Lucia added with a grateful smile as she held onto Charlee's hand. "I never thought we would see her again."

"Well, we're all going to miss her around here, that's for sure." Colby chimed in, nodding towards Charlee.

Lucia squeezed her daughter's hand with an ecstatic smile. She was just glowing with happiness that her daughter was back safely. "Maybe one day she'll tell me about it."

Charlee squeezed her hand back. "Can I give everyone a hug?"

"Of course." Lucia nodded, and Charlee immediately ran over to Don and held onto his leg. He had been talking to another agent that had helped arrest Joe Carlos.

"Hey you. I think you could take me down with that kind of move." She smiled at that remark as he picked her up and tickled her stomach. She giggled with delight and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Don stood there stiffly, his hand resting on her back. "I love you, Don." Charlee made him reconsider why he wasn't married or had kids. He let his come up and rest on the small of her back. He felt mute as she sat up and put her hands on his cheeks. She gave a happy hum as she studied him. It seemed that even though he couldn't say anything, that she knew that he loved her too.

She wiggled out of his arms and walked over to David. He opened his arms out to her and she ran right into them. "We're really to going to miss you around this place."

"I'll miss you too." She raised her gaze to his, a slight pout on her lips. "Will I get to see you again?"

Despite trying to keep his composure, his gave her a gentle smile. He looked over at Lucia, then back to her. "I'm sure we can arrange something." Charlee sighed into him as she yawned and walked over to Colby, who looked a bit more emotional.

He crouched down to her level. "You're sad." Charlee ran her hand down his cheek. She felt the smoothness of his cheeks; the way they tightened in concern. "Is it 'cause I didn't give you a sucker?"

That got a small chuckle from everyone. Colby shook his head, with a small smirk. "You're quite something, you know that?" She smiled, hugging him tightly. When she finally broke the grasp, she kissed him on his forehead and he smiled gratefully as skipped over and stopped at a complete halt when she got to Megan, who had tears in her eyes.

"It's not goodbye, right Megan?" The little girl asked quietly, gazing up at her. Megan nodded, bent down to her level and then took her hands into hers.

"You're one of the bravest little girls that I've met. Remember what we talked about—you show your siblings how to be brave. Think you can do that for me?"

Charlee nodded, pursing her lips. "I think I can do that." She put one finger on her chin as her eyes lit up. She turned to Lucia, bringing up the question. "How many brothers do I have?"

"You have one older brother and sister, and a younger sister."

"And the one in your tummy? Boy or girl?"

Lucia rubbed at her stomach. "A little boy." As if to say he was there, the bump moved. Mouth opening slightly, Charlee jumped back a little.

"He moved!" She added ecstatically, slowly moving forward. Her hand reached up to touch her stomach; the baby kicked again. "I've never had any brothers to play with before."

Lucia whispered, rubbing the top of her stomach and breathing out deeply. "I think he likes you."

Charlee smiled. "I think he does too."

"We should get going. I think there are a lot of people that want to meet you, besides this little one."

Megan stepped in, seeing that Charlee was trying to stall their leaving. "Come on, I'll walk you out to the car." Lucia grasped her daughter's hand tightly as they stepped through the doors.

The air was hot as they walked out into the busy LA sidewalk. Many people were walking back and forth, dressed in a variety of colors. "I parked just over here."

"Where?" Charlee asked, looking around at all the different cars that they passed. Her other hand was grasping Megan's and swinging back and forth.

"See that blue car down there in the distance."

"Yeah."

"Well, that's the car that we're going in." Walking down the sidewalk a couple more steps, Lucia reached into her purse and clicked the unlock button. Once they were there, Lucia opened the car door.

There was a blue covered car seat near the door. It had already been buckled in—and a booster seat to the side of it, in a pastel yellow with pink flowers. "Is that where I'm sitting?" Charlee wrinkled her nose, pointing to the booster seat.

"I think you're too big to be sitting in the car seat, don't you think?" Lucia teased, touching her daughter's nose with her finger. Charlee giggled. "Would you like me to buckle you in?"

"No thanks, I used to do it all the time." As if proving her point, Charlee buckled herself in and looked out the car window with a sigh.

"Thank you so much for everything." Hugging Megan, it was hard to bump her with burgeoning belly.

Megan smiled, returning the hug. "The next time we see you, you're going to have a baby in those arms."

"I know." Lucia beamed. "It'll be amazing having five bouncing kids, all together again. Feel free to come help out if you want." Rounding the car, Lucia hopped into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"I'm sure I'll be coming by to visit soon enough."

"Bye Charlee." Megan waved, but Charlee didn't look back at her. "I think somebody's tired."

"It's been quite the day." Lucia remarked, hands on the steering wheel.

"Give us a call if you need anything." Megan stepped back, hand on the door, ready to close it.

"We will—thanks!" With that Megan closed the door, her heart breaking as they drove away. She stood there for a few minutes afterwards, trying to compose herself before walking back into the building.

It didn't take her long to finish up everything that she needed to do at the office, before Don sent her home to rest up before the dinner. This week had felt strangely long as she took Larry's hand.

He had been waiting for her patiently back up in the office, chatting with David, Colby and Don. "You okay?" He asked as they walked to the car. She didn't answer until he was opening the car door.

Megan shook her head as she laid her head against the seat. "Truthfully, this case has exhausted me. I'm just glad that it's over—"She trailed off, closing her eyes. The way that she had said it, just seemed all wrong, but she was too tired to correct herself.

Before she knew it, Larry was shaking her awake. She only woke up long enough to walk upstairs and lie on her bed. There was no time to assess the damage of her home, or realize that Charlee wasn't there any more—no, the last thing she remembered was Larry pulling the covers over and the door closing.

About a half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. It was her neighbor Sally, bringing over a potted flower. She introduced herself. "You must be Larry. Megan talks about you all the time." She shook his hand. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I brought this over after everything that has happened." And then she excused herself, as her children were expected to be coming home any minute.

"That's quite thoughtful. I'll let her know that you came by." She waved and he shut the door, putting the potted flower onto the coffee table. He let out a deep sigh and looked around. Not much had been displaced, but someone had invaded her home. _"Why weren't you here?"_ He chided himself, reflecting his thoughts. "I should have been there." A noise startled him and he turned around quickly, to see Megan watching him on the stairs. He gave her a small smile.

"I know that look." She held onto the railing, walking slowly down the stairs.

"Thinking is not just merely a thought."

"What I mean is—" Her green eyes glistened with a knowing smile. "—don't beat yourself up over what happened." Wrapping her hand in his, she led him over to the couch.

"It wasn't necessarily a mute point when he came after Charlee."

Megan shook her head. "Charlee had witnessed way too much, and he wanted to put a stop to it." Reaching behind him, Larry pulled out a bear that Megan had given to her.

She smiled softly. "It's the bear I gave to her when she first came here. She slept with this thing every night."

A white piece of paper caught his eye; although small, it had been folded underneath the plaid ribbon. He opened it up.

"What do you have there?"

Turning the note around, it revealed a red drawn heart and an 'M' written beside it. "I'm getting the feeling that she left this bear here on purpose."

She took the bear into her hands, giving it a squeeze. "You should have seen her face as they were getting ready to leave. The expression in her eyes were filled with so much sadness that I just wanted to take her back and hold her."

Larry looked quite thoughtful. "Maybe she won't understand it until she's older, but she should know of the love that radiates for her—even though she is with her family now."

Looking at her watch, Megan leaned forward to kiss him. "I'd better get ready." Her lips lingered on his, before she brought her head down so her cheek was resting against his shoulder. Letting out a content sigh, she let her eyes wander—over to the blanket where Charlee had been hiding when Joe Carlos had come in; the coffee table where her phone was still sitting; the note beside it from Larry. "I really don't know what I would have done if you had been here and something had happened to you." She reminisced, snuggling into him momentarily before getting up. "I love you Larry."

He gave her that adoring smile—one of the reasons that he had fallen in love with her. "I love you to the stars and beyond." Sighing contently, she made her way up the stairs and shut the door moments later, her back to the wall.

Spotting the small toothbrush that had belonged to Charlee, Megan griped the side of the counter. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked into the mirror. It a few minutes to calm down as she held the toothbrush in her hands and put it in the drawer before putting on a light amount of makeup.

She went into her room, her eyes flickering up to the picture of her son as she walked over to the closet and pulled out a black top with ruffles at the bottom. Picking some black jeans to wear she laid them on the bed next to the shirt.

Quickly getting dressed, she brushed a couple times through her hair. Looking in the mirror, she pulled it up into a simple ponytail and walked back into the bathroom to grab a hair tie. Once that was done, she walked back into the bedroom to put on a gold bracelet that her mom had given her when she was a teenager and a necklace that had the letter 'M' that Larry had given to her for their second anniversary.

Checking her outfit, she put a black and white shirt just in case and walked downstairs. On the way down, her hand brushed across the bullet hole in the wall. A thought occurred to her that she would have to get that fixed later.

Once she got back downstairs, she kissed him lightly and smiled. "Hi."

He kissed her back, slightly confused. "Hi."

Eyes moving back and forth, she tried to read the expression on his face. "What?"

"You just look a lot happier than you were." Shrugging, he closed the distance between them.

"A thought occurred—"Brushing her hair behind her ear, Megan continued. "—while I was up there getting ready. I broke out into tears, just literal tears. I realized that we do a dangerous job that to a degree that no one else does. And I'm not sure that I want to give that up. Not yet." She locked eyes with him.

He closed the distance between them. "The only thing standing in the way of unhappiness is the darkness." He stated. "I just want you to be happy." She smiled gratefully and they walked over to the door.

About half an hour later, they arrived at the Eppes resident. "Larry, Megan." Charlie greeted them, allowing them to come in; he shakes Larry's hand and then hugs Megan. Don, Liz, David, Colby, and Amita and Robin were already there, chatting away. Robin was stirring the pasta and smiled over at them.

Alan was just putting the pasta in the sink as they walked in. He greeted Larry and walked over and gave Megan a big hug in that fatherly way. He looked at her. "You look like you could use a good meal."

She laughed, genuinely smiling. There was a brief moment where she realized that she needed that. "You always know just what I need." She peeked around him, the smell wafting in her direction. "I'm guessing it was a bad night to wear white."

"I think I have just the thing that you can wear." He waved her over and she followed him into the hall. Alan pulled out a tan colored apron with flowers on it from the closet. "Margaret use to wear this. It's nothing fancy."

Megan took it, running her fingers over the material. "Did she make this?"

"Yeah." Closing the closet, they started walking back down the hall. "Actually she made it when Don was just a couple months old—said it kept her busy. She made a lot of things: blankets, pillows, covers."

"Well, it's beautiful."

He took in an abrupt breath, like he wanted to say something else but changed his mind. "We should be getting back, shouldn't we?" And with that he disappeared into the kitchen.

Dinner consisted of talking between bites; trying to catch up, memories, bits and pieces of the case that they could discuss, and stuffing themselves—despite warning that there was still dessert to be eaten.

Liz groaned, patting her stomach. "I know that I can't fit anything more in here right now." Megan was in the middle of taking a sip of water, when she exchanged a glance with Larry. She questioned the thought of telling them as she locked eyes with him.

"Yeah, I think I had two helpings too many." David chimed in, taking another bite of spaghetti. That got a laugh from everyone, and the kitchen erupted in a loud roar of laughing that sparked many conversations.

Liz inquired, sitting up slowly and leaned in. "I hate to ruin this moment, where the two of you stare at each other—"Colby laughed beside her at something that he and David were talking about. "But I couldn't help but notice that the two of you have been particularly quiet this evening."

Megan cracked a smile, setting her glass down on the table. "It's been a long week."

"Among other things." Larry hinted, nodding along. His hand was shaking slightly as it cupped around the glass.

Liz gave them an odd, intrigued look. "Yeah, Don was filling us in a little before you came. I wish I had been there to watch you guys take them down. Sounds like it would have been an interesting case to follow along with."

"Ah, I'm sure it will be a case that will never be forgotten." Larry's hand was now grasping the fork.

"Larry." Charlie broke in, leaning towards him—trying to be discreet as possible. "I have an equation that you most possible would like to see in the garage." Larry nodded his understanding and Charlie straightened back and moved his chair away from the table.

Larry followed suit and they both stood. They had just rounded the table when Alan called out to them. "Hey Charlie, if you and Larry are going to the garage, would you mind getting the pies out of the fridge?" He knew them entirely too well.

Charlie nodded, "We were about to—after I show Larry this equation." without looking back, they made their way into the garage.

"Can't it wait until after dinner?"

As soon as Larry had closed the door, he watched Charlie move towards the fridge. "Now, I didn't exactly get just the pies that my dad asked for—" Larry opened his mouth to interject when Charlie continued. "Because—I was thinking about our talk earlier. When you spoke of not knowing how to tell everyone about yours and Megan's previous engagement, I thought of a clever way that you could say it. "

With that he pulled out a two layered tier cake. The first tier was a dark blue with stars that had been dotted all over in different sizes, like they were looking up at the stars. The second was a dark blue, but had 'Larry and Megan' written in neat cursive in a lighter silver color. There were rings that had been drawn with yellow icing; one with a small diamond on it; the other a simple ring that was hooked together with the other.

Placing it on the coffee table, Larry sits down on the couch with a sigh. "This is really is it, isn't it?" Charlie asked with a smile on his face; hands shoved into his pockets.

He looked up at Charlie and nodded gratefully. "Yeah Charles, it really is."

They didn't have to say much more after that, because a few minutes later they returned into the kitchen, Larry walking by his side. Charlie was holding the cake to the side so that the details couldn't be seen just yet, while Larry was holding the pies.

"If I could call attention to the cake." Larry offered nervously, setting down the pies on the counter. The chatter that once had filled the kitchen had now quieted down; all eyes were on them now. "that Charles has thoughtfully gotten to celebrate the announcement of my love to Megan as we celebrate a new point in our lives."

He looked around at the array of emotions that were going through the room, but what mattered most was Megan was sitting there in her chair with the most beautiful, glowing smile on her face.

At that moment, Charlie turns the cake around and there are some excited gasps as they take in the beauty of the cake and the words written. "I've asked Megan to be my wife, and she's gladly accepted."

"The two of you are getting married?" David asked, pointing teasingly at them. "Congrats! I never thought I'd see the day." That erupted in a few laughs as he stood up and shook Larry's hand.

"That's great, congratulations!" Amita commented happily over the noise.

Robin nodded, chiming in. "I assume that you guys have known this for awhile. When's the happy day?"

It got quiet again as they waited for one of them to respond. Larry ran his fingers through his hair, responding first. "Actually, we haven't set a day yet."

Liz and Colby exchange a glance; the palm of her hand resting on her cheek. "Well that would explain the glowing."

"That would explain most of it." Colby countered, nodding in agreement with another smile. Taking a sip of his drink, he placed it back down. It seemed like the evening went on like that: more congratulations, talking about wedding arrangements, eating cake.

"Guess you'll get that daughter that you always wanted, right dad?"

"Yeah!" Alan perked up. At this time they were all standing around chattering away. "I guess in a way I will. " He mumbled the last part. "Now if only I could get the grandchildren—then I think this part of my life will be complete."

Don smiled, patting his dad on the shoulder. "Maybe one day." He excused himself to go outside. Alan watched his son go, then walked over to the other side of the room. "Megan-"

"Oh hey, Alan."

"First off, I haven't given you my congratulations." He smiled at her, pulling her into a hug. "Second—you know my son better than anyone." He licked at his lips nervously, waving it off with his hand. "Guess what I'm getting at is that you have always been able to have a way with words." She follows his gaze towards the back door; the light on and illuminating the porch.

"We just got through a tough case, involving a little girl." Megan revealed, knowing that was a big part of why the team was slightly down.

He nodded at her sympathetically. "I take it you don't have a lot of cases involving children." Megan nodded. "—but you got her out safe and sound, right?"

"She's back with her family."

Alan looked relieved. "That's great. Well, you seem to be the only one that can talk to Don these days. I would appreciate it if you put in a good word that his family is here too."

She was far too exhausted to explain everything that had gone on in the last little while, so she patted his shoulder gently. "I'll see what I can do." Excusing herself, Megan walked outside; the cooling air hitting her skin.

Looking around, she took in the reddening sunset and leaned against the railing—knowing that she won't be able to do that much longer. She finally spotted him standing by the Koi pond and walked down onto the grass.

He turned around when he heard her feet rustling against the grass. "Heard you might be out here." She smiled as she walked next to him.

"Yeah, I came out here for a breath of fresh air. Told my dad that I would check out the Koi pond while I over her for the dinner." Megan nodded, watching as he stared into the Koi pond and gazed at all the fish swimming around; the patio light bouncing around in the rippling water.

Hair catching in the wind, he looked up at her. Her gaze was gentle and she looked more beautiful and radiant. Despite knowing that she was recovering from the case, taking care of a scared and beautiful six year old girl, and then watching her give her back to her family—she looked genuinely happy.

"I've known you long enough to know that's not the only reason you came out here."

Don threw some fish food into the pond; blowing out a long breath. "Had a lot on my mind." He offered that simple explanation; yet in her mind, it seemed to explain a lot.

And then a thought occurred about what they had been talking about when he had come over to talk. "You're still worried about the team. You, Me, Colby, David." He didn't respond, but threw another handful of fish food into the pond and screwed the lid back on.

"Yeah you know, out of all the people that I've worked with—you're the people that I would and have trusted my life to."

"And you still can. Believe it or not, we're family. Not only that, but you have family inside that loves you and cares about you. You know, I've been thinking about what you said about trying to put the team together, but what if you start over?"

He narrowed his eyes; not harshly, but more puzzled more than anything. "It's not that easy to start over; you know that."

"Not completely. There will always be things that cannot be forgotten, but I've realized in the last week especially that sometimes we have to put things behind us, in order to move forward. Something to think about." With that, she turned and walked back into the house.


End file.
